Treatment outcomes of the external auditory canal and temporal bone malignancy with dura invasion

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and surgical outcomes of patients with external auditory canal (EAC) and temporal bone (TB) malignancy with dura invasion. METHODS: The medical records of patients with EAC and TB malignancy with dura invasion were retrospectively reviewed. Survival outcomes (overall survival [OS], disease‐specific survival [DSS], recurrence‐free survival [RFS], and distant metastasis‐free survival [DMFS]) were analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. RESULTS: A total of eight patients were included in this study. The median age at diagnosis was 49.5 years (range 12–74 years). The median follow‐up periods were 46.5 months. Histologically, four out of eight patients were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; 50%). The 2‐year OS and DSS rates of all patients were 62.5%, and those of EAC SCC patients were 50% and 66.7%, respectively; while the 2‐year RFS and DMFS rates of all patients were 37.5%. There was one local recurrence at the resection site (12.5%), two regional neck nodal recurrences (25%), and two distant metastases (25%). Dura resection and duroplasty areas were not involved in the local recurrence case. CONCLUSION: In EAC and TB cancer with dura invasion, radical surgery with dura resection may show similar survival outcomes to previous studies without recurrence at the dura resection site. Level of evidence: IV