A Case of Squamous Cell Carcinoma in the External Auditory Canal Previously Treated for Verrucous Carcinoma

ABSTRACT

Carcinoma in the external auditory canal (EAC) is a rare malignancy with an annual incidence of one per one million people, accounting for less than 0.2% of all head and neck cancers. The most common histopathological type of EAC cancer is squamous cell carcinoma. Verrucous carcinoma is a well-differentiated, low-grade variant of squamous cell carcinoma. It is a locally destructive, invasive, and slow growing tumor that rarely metastasizes. Verrucous carcinoma occurs predominantly in the oral cavity and larynx, and its occurrence in the EAC is extremely rare. In this report, we present a histologically confirmed case of verrucous carcinoma in the EAC and temporal bone, which for several years had been classified as epithelial hyperplasia. Two-and-a-half years after diagnosis of verrucous carcinoma, a recurrent mass was found and the lesion was then confirmed to be squamous cell carcinoma.