Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Endoscopic Cholesteatoma Surgery
Published on: January 19, 2022
In vitro cholesteatoma growth and secretion of cytokines
Tore Helgaland1, Bart Engelen, Carla Olsnes
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Haugesund Hospital, Norway. tore.helgaland@helse-fonna.no <tore.helgaland@helse-fonna.no>
Conclusion:
Our results show a significant difference between skin and cholesteatoma biology in vitro.
Objectives:
Cholesteatoma disease is a process of destruction characterized by uncontrolled growth of squamous epithelial cells in the middle ear or temporal bone. The pathophysiology behind the cholesteatoma development is controversial, and the mechanisms driving the cholesteatoma growth, migration and destructive properties is still unclear. We aimed to provide a method to study the effect of various compounds on cholesteatoma and skin tissue growth, as well as to further investigate the biological differences between normal skin and cholesteatoma tissue.
Methods:
We have established a method to study cholesteatoma biopsy tissue in vitro. Cholesteatoma tissues from patients undergoing surgery for chronic otitis were grown in culture medium and compared to growth patterns and behaviour of normal retroauricular skin. Conditioned medium was analysed for various secreted cytokines.
Results:
We found a radial outgrowth of keratinocyte epithelium from the circular biopsies. After 5 days of culture we found a significant growth of both cholesteatoma and skin-derived cells. Cholesteatoma samples showed higher growth rate as compared with skin control cultures from the same patient. Moreover, the cholesteatoma cells showed higher production of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin (IL)-6 as compared with normal skin.
