Malignant tumors of the middle ear and external auditory canal: a 20-year review.

Twenty-four patients with malignant tumors of the external auditory canal and middle ear, originally seen between 1960 and 1980, were reviewed retrospectively. Seventeen patients had epidermoid carcinoma, one had adenocarcinoma, three had rhabdomyosarcoma, and one had osteosarcoma. At presentation, four had disease confined to the external auditory canal, three had superficial invasion of the bony canal, four had deeply invasive disease, and thirteen had disease that extended beyond the temporal bone. Treatment consisted of radiation, surgery, and combination therapy. Four patients with osteosarcoma or rhabdomyosarcoma received adjuvant chemotherapy. Five years after therapy, one of four patients with external auditory canal tumor died of disease, and two died of intercurrent disorders. One of three patients with superficial temporal bone invasion and two of four patients with deeply invasive tumor died of their disease; another died of intercurrent disorder. Twelve of 13 patients with tumor beyond the temporal bone died.