A comparison of therapeutic modalities of glomus tumors in the temporal bone.

Seventy-seven patients with glomus tumors involving the temporal bone were treated by surgery, irradiation, and combined therapy. The therapeutic success rate for the surgery group was 91 percent for glomus tympanicum and 78 percent for glomus jugulare tumors. The success rate for radiation therapy was 30% in glomus jugulare tumors. Patients with extensive lesions treated by combined therapy had a therapeutic success rate of 60 percent. The clinical response of glomus jugulare tumors to radiation therapy was 65 percent. Surgery appears to be the best method for eradication of the tumors; however, with large extensive lesions, combined therapy offers a better prognosis than either modality alone.