Primary Ewing's sarcoma of the temporal bone

Abstract

Primary cranial Ewing's sarcoma is exceptionally rare. Only ten cases of such a tumor had been reported heretofore in the literature. We describe a case of primary Ewing's sarcoma occurring in the temporal bone. The tumor was surgically excised, and the patient underwent radiation and chemotherapy. Neither recurrence nor distant metastasis was noted at 12 months after surgery. Although the prognosis of Ewing's sarcoma in general is often poor because of early metastasis to the lungs and/or to other bones, a review of the literature suggested that the same tumor occurring in the cranium can often be successfully managed by intensive therapy with radical excision and radiochemotherapy. This inference was supported by the case reported here.