Carcinoma of the ear: retrospective analysis of 61 patients.

Malignant tumours of the ear canal and middle ear retain a poor prognosis despite the development of increasingly radical procedures. We report the combined experience of 61 patients presenting to our hospital over the past 30 years with this condition. Radiotherapy was the preferred initial treatment in almost all patients. Early surgical treatment by local resection just before or just after radiotherapy and radical mastoidectomy produced disease free survival for two to 20 years in 59 per cent (16 of 27) patients. Long term survival was achieved in 50 per cent of patients with carcinoma of the external auditory meatus and only 24 per cent of those with middle ear carcinoma. Salvage surgery produced a variable degree and duration of palliation but few survivors. Little was gained in the quality of life by petrosectomy.