Management of malignancy of the temporal bone.

An analysis was made of 31 patients with malignancy of the temporal bone treated at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary between 1959 and 1975. Treatment modalities included: partial temporal bone resection, subtotal temporal bone resection, total temporal bone resection, radical mastoidectomy followed by radiation therapy, radiation therapy alone, and chemotherapy. When tumor was limited to the external ear canal, partial temporal bone resection was effective in 10 out of 11 patients. When tumor involved the middle ear, subtotal temporal bone resection cured 3 out of 5 patients, and radical mastoidectomy followed by radiation therapy cured 5 out of 12 patients. Total temporal bone resection and chemotherapy failed to cure a patient each, but radiation therapy alone was successful in controlling tumor in one patient.