[Bilateral auditory canal squamous cell carcinoma]

Effectiveness of chemoradiotherapy for radiation-induced bilateral external auditory canal cancer: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND

Radiation-induced bilateral external auditory canal cancer is an extremely rare disease that has yet to be fully characterized in the clinical literature.

METHODS

Herein, we present a case study of a 75-year-old man with radiation-induced bilateral external auditory canal cancer. The patient's medical history included left maxillary cancer that had been treated with chemoradiation 19 years earlier and local recurrence with total maxillectomy 10 years earlier. Intracavitary radiation was delivered to the site of postoperative recurrence 8 years before the current presentation. The patient declined radical surgery for the external auditory canal cancer at this time, and a customized combined modality regimen was thus administered.

RESULTS

There was no recurrence of cancer for 22 months, to date, after completing chemoradiotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our finding that radiotherapy can be successfully used for radiation-induced cancer indicates that chemoradiotherapy may be a useful strategy for treating this type of malignancy.

[Surgery of the external ear canal]

Diseases of the external ear canal are a frequent reason for consulting the otolaryngologist. Conservative treatment is sufficient in most cases. Chronic problems of the external ear canal, however, sometimes require surgical treatment. Enlargement of the external ear canal as well as the entrance of the external ear canal are often simultaneously performed together with tympanoplasties, in order to obtain good access to the middle ear and to facilitate postoperative care. In this review, we focus on surgical techniques for different pathologies such as exostosis, stenosis, fibrosis, and tumors of the external ear canal.

Bilateral carcinoma of the temporal bone: case report and literature review

INTRODUCTION

Squamous cell carcinoma of the temporal bone is a rare entity. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature and even fewer describe bilateral tumours. Because its clinical presentation resembles chronic otitis media or otitis externa, diagnosis could be delayed.

CASE REPORT

A case is presented of bilateral squamous cell carcinoma of the temporal bone in a 66 year old woman. The patient underwent a left subtotal petrosectomy followed by a right subtotal petrosectomy a month later.

CONCLUSIONS

Early diagnosis is directly related to patient prognosis. However, prognosis remains poor and the surgical treatment is a challenge for the experienced skull base surgeon.