Squamous cell carcinoma of the middle ear. A 25-year retrospective study.

Squamous cell carcinomas of the middle ear cleft are highly unpleasant tumors which pose many problems for the otologist. We have retrospectively reviewed the hospital notes of 21 patients (22 ears) who presented with this disease in order to try to clarify those features which are of prognostic significance. We confirmed that a history of chronic suppuration with or without cholesteatoma predisposes the patient to tumor development and that, in the presence of continuing otorrhea, patients are not protected by mastoid surgery. These patients have been treated with conservative surgery and radiotherapy without en bloc resection of the temporal bone and, in these circumstances, the histological grade of the tumor at presentation appears to bear a direct relationship to survival.