Systematic review: Is there any evidence for utilisation of super-selective intra-arterial (IA) chemoradiotherapy in external auditory canal (EAC) tumours over conventional therapy?

Abstract

IARCT has played a major role in targeted treatment of head and neck cancers due to the increased intratumoral drug concentrations achieved with this approach. It is proposed that superselective IACRT may become primary therapy for external ear canal tumours due to its safety profile. However, the efficacy and benefits of IACRT over conventional surgery and radiotherapy for the treatment of early external auditory canal tumours has not been systematically determined. The objective of this review is to analyse the results from studies involving IACRT, compare them to clinical studies with surgery and radiotherapy as primary treatment modalities and perform a pooled analysis on the relative efficacy of IACRT