A rare tumor of external auditory canal originated from ceruminous glands: A case raport

Abstract

The external auditory canal neoplasms comprise less than 1 percent of all head and neck tumors. 2,4 percent of them originate from ceruminous glands. In the past all these tumours were called ceruminomas. In 1972 Wetli et al. classiffed these neoplasms into four groups: ceruminous adenomas, ceruminous carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinomas and pleomorphic adenomas. Ceruminous adenocarcinoma is very rare. It has no specific symptoms, so an appropriate, quick diagnosis is difficult. It is very agressive. The treatment should be based on tumor resection and radiotherapy afterwards. We presented a case of 56 years old female with a mass in external ear canal, who underwent diagnostic surgical excision of external auditor canal tumour. The postoperative histopathological diagnosis was ceruminous adenocarcinoma (complete excision) and the patient received radiation therapy. Control CT and MR - performed one year after the surgery - showed possible local recurrence of pathology. The patient undergo maximal surgical resection with subtotal petrosectomy but in the postoperative histological examination there was no malignant cells. Treatment of neoplasms of external auditory canal should be based on radical surgical resection. Imaging diagnostic is very important in follow up but it can have limited value in term of its specifity.