Radiation therapy in the management of carcinoma of the external auditory canal, middle ear, or mastoid.

Twenty-three patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the external auditory canal, middle ear, or mastoid were treated with combined surgery and irradiation, giving a 5-year NED rate of 48% (11/23). Except in extremely early lesions without bone involvement, treatment by radiation therapy alone was rarely successful and is not recommended. The most serious complication was osteoradionecrosis of the temporal bone; this occurred in 5 patients, all of whom received more than 2,100 rets due to faulty radiotherapeutic technique.