Lesions that can grow on the eyelid are too numerous to list. Some of the more common benign lesions are: sebhorrheic keratosis, actinic keratosis, nevus, papilloma, verruca, sebaceous cyst, keratin cyst, chalazion, hordeolum. Surgery is usually very quick and involves a complete excision.
Malignant lesions are rare. By far the most common is a basal cell carcinoma, Luckily it behaves unlike most cancers and tends not to go elsewhere (“metastasize”). Surgery involves complete excision with clear margins.
It is possible to have other skin cancers on the eyelids, but squamous cell carcinomas, sebaceous cell carcinomas, and melanomas are very rare.