Survival in Middle Ear Malignancy: A Population-Based Analysis Based on the SEER Database.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Otorhinolaryngology

Background:

• Primary middle ear malignancies are rare but require understanding of clinical features and survival.
• Population-level data is crucial for identifying trends in rare cancers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate clinical features and survival outcomes of middle ear malignancies.
• To analyze survival rates across different histologic subtypes and age groups.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) national database.
• Analysis of 431 patients diagnosed with middle ear malignancy between 1973 and 2016.
• Five-year survival analysis using SPSS software.

Main Results:

• Average survival was 61.4 months. Five-year disease-specific survival rates varied significantly by subtype: squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA) at 54.6%, adenocarcinoma at 82.1%, other carcinoma at 71.8%, and noncarcinoma at 82.6%.
• Patients with adenocarcinoma who underwent surgery had improved 5-year survival (91.7%) compared to those without surgery (65.1%).
• Younger patients (<55 years) had significantly better 5-year survival (77.8%) than older groups (>70 years: 55.1%; 55-69 years: 60.2%). SCCA patients were older than adenocarcinoma patients. Noncarcinoma subtypes were more likely to present with local disease.

Conclusions:

• Histologic subtype and age at diagnosis are key determinants of prognosis for middle ear malignancies.
• Adenocarcinoma and noncarcinoma subtypes demonstrate the most favorable prognoses.
• Surgery appears particularly beneficial for patients with adenocarcinoma.