External Auditory Canal Cholesteatoma after Radiation Therapy for Nasopharyngeal Cancer: Case Series and Systematic Review

Abstract

The authors performed a systematic review, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, across multiple databases, including all original studies published until November 2022, focusing on External auditory canal cholesteatoma (EACC) after radiation therapy (RT) for nasopharyngeal cancer (NC). Inclusion criteria were original articles reporting on secondary EACC after RT for NC. Articles were critically appraised to assess level of evidence using the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine criteria. Overall, 138 papers were identified and after duplicate removal (34 papers) and excluding papers not in English, 93 papers were assessed for eligibility; finally, only five papers were included and summarized with the three cases coming from our institution. These mainly involved the anterior and the inferior part of the EAC. The mean time of diagnosis after RT was the largest series of 6.5 years (with a range from 0.5 to 15.4 years). Patients undergoing RT for NC have 18 times a higher risk of developing EACC compared to the normal population. EACC is probably one of the most underreported side effects, because patients may present variable clinical findings, which could lead to misdiagnosis. Early diagnosis of RT related EACC is advised to enable conservative treatment.