A retrospective analysis of radiotherapy in the treatment of external auditory canal carcinoma

Abstract

External auditory canal carcinoma (EACC) is a rare disease. The current study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for EACC. The present study retrospectively reviewed 34 consecutive patients treated for EACC with EBRT between February 2001 and January 2019 at the University of Tokyo Hospital. Clinical staging was performed according to the modified Pittsburgh classification. Of all the included patients, seven patients were in the early stages (I or II) and 27 in the advanced stages (III or IV) of EACC. A total of 16 patients underwent EBRT and surgery (S+RT) pre- and/or postoperatively, while 18 patients underwent definitive radiotherapy (dRT). The median prescribed doses for the S+RT and dRT groups were 66 and 70 Gy, respectively. The median follow-up period for all patients was 22.4 months (range, 2-205 months). The 5-year overall survival rates of the S+RT and dRT groups were 66.7 and 45.1%, respectively. The progression-free survival rate at 5-year was 55.6% (95% confidence interval: 36.5-71.1%) for the entire cohort. A total of 14 patients experienced disease relapse after treatment, consisting of 11 locoregional recurrences and three distant metastases. The current study revealed the clinical outcomes of EBRT for EACC.

Keywords: ear; external auditory canal carcinoma; radiotherapy; retrospective analysis; treatment outcome.

Figure 1

Kaplan-Meier curve for (A) overall survival and (B) cancer-specific survival in patients with external auditory canal carcinoma treated in our institution. A vertical bar indicates a censored case.

Figure 2

Kaplan-Meier curves for (A) overall survival stratified clinical stage: Early vs. advanced) and (B) treatment strategy: dRT vs. S+RT. A vertical bar indicates a censored case. dRT, Definitive radiotherapy; S+RT, surgery plus radiotherapy; OS, overall survival.