Can You Die From Ear Cancer?

Ear cancer affects both the external and internal parts of your ear. Even it begins as skin cancer on the outer region of your ear and later on, spreads throughout different ear structures, including the eardrum and ear canal. Alternatively, ear cancer may start from inside of your ear and affects the bone present in your ear referred to as a temporal bone. Here, the temporal bone contains the mastoid bone or the bony lump, which you feel at the back of your ear.

Ear cancer exceeds in rare cases but its survival rate varies depending on the specific location of the formed tumor and its progression in patients. One of the best ways to avoid death due to ear cancer or at least increase the survival rate is to undergo for ears examination from an ENT specialist in a timely manner. This means you should consult your doctor immediately if you notice any type of growth across your ears, unbearable ear pain, and ear drainage. Other than this, you should immediately take the advice of an ENT specialist if you experience recurrent or long-term ear infection, especially the one without any congestion or cough and cold problems.

Survival rate or death associated with ear cancer also depends on the specific location of cancer. Accordingly, cancer caused to the ear canal is curable in most of the patients provided they undergo with ear examination and diagnose early as well as cancer/tumor remains limited within the canal.

However, the treatment of ear canal cancer involves the removal of hearing bones, eardrum and the ear canal, as each of them is connected with one another.

Simultaneously, a head and neck surgeon remove the drainage area formed by lymph and gland at the front of the patient’s ear. In some of the cases, doctors apply radiation therapy post ear surgery. In contrast, none of the doctors or surgeons takes any step to restore the hearing ability of the patient, which leads to permanent hear loss. However, the operation is tolerable even among old people.⁽¹⁾

Ear cancer symptoms depend on the affected part of your ears. Accordingly-

The outer area of a human ear consists of ear rim, also known as the pinna, earlobe and outer entrance towards the ear canal. Major signs and symptoms in this case include-

• Scaly patches on the skin, which remain even after you apply moisturizers
• Pearly white-colored lumps beneath the skin
• Bleeding type of skin ulcers
• Ear Canal

Symptoms of skin cancer in your ear canal are-

• Formation of lumps within or surrounding the ear entrance towards the ear canal
• Discharge from your ears
• Hearing loss
• Middle Ear

Signs and symptoms related to middle ear cancer are-

• Blood type discharge from the patient’s ear
• Ear pain
• Hearing loss
• Numbness on the affected area of the head
• Inner Ear

Any patient with cancer in the inner ear has the following major signs and symptoms-

• Mild to severe ear pain
• Hearing loss
• Ringing in ears
• Dizziness
• Headache⁽²⁾

Overall, survival rate associated with ear cancer is high and death occurs in rare cases. However, the patient suffers from permanent hear loss for his/her entire life.

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