A retrospective analysis on the effect of radiotherapy of oropharyngeal carcinomas on hearing

Worldwide, more than 90,000 new cases of oropharyngeal carcinoma are registered annually. The majority of patients with oropharyngeal carcinomas receive radiotherapy. The occurrence of hearing impairment as a consequence of radiation has not been systematically analyzed.

We screened 692 patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal carcinoma from 2000 to 2020 for the presence of pure tone audiograms before and after radiotherapy (primary or adjuvant, with or without concomitant chemotherapy). A collective of 61 patients was identified for inclusion in the study.

Analysis of all patients showed a significant (p < .001) deterioration if inner ear hearing levels (PTA4) ipsilateral to the malignancy from 22.4 dB_HL [18.6; 26.4] (mean [95% confidence interval]) before to 30.9 dB_HL [26.7; 35.3] after radiotherapy. In patients without additional administration of a platinum-containing chemotherapeutic agent (n = 10, p = .027), PTA4 reduced from 26.3 dB_HL [14.7; 42.3] to 36.8 dB_HL [25.2; 51.4].

The damaging effect of platinum-based chemotherapy on hearing has been demonstrated abundantly. We were able to show that the ionizing radiation administered during radiotherapy of oropharyngeal carcinomas can also cause damage to the inner ear and lead to hearing loss.

Publication History

Article published online:
24 May 2022