Chemoradiation therapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the external auditory canal: A meta‐analysis

BACKGROUND: The standard treatment for advanced external auditory canal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is subtotal temporal bone resection and postoperative radiation therapy (RT), whereas chemoradiation therapy (CRT) is used in some institutions to improve patient prognosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of CRT in external auditory canal SCC treatment. METHODS: Meta-analyses of external auditory canal SCC studies were performed. We extracted 5-year overall survival rates and number of patients for aggregate patient data, and types of treatment and outcomes for individual patient data. RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival rate of 752 patients was 57%. In the individual patient data meta-analysis, the 5-year overall survival rates of patients who received surgery ± RT, preoperative CRT, definitive CRT, and postoperative CRT were 53.5%, 85.7%, 43.6%, and 0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that preoperative CRT may improve the survival of surgically treated patients with external auditory canal SCC and that definitive CRT may be equivalent to surgical resection.