SQUAMOUS-CELL carcinoma is the most frequent malignant tumor of the ear. Broders1 analyzed a series of 63 cases of epithelioma of the ear and found that the squamous-cell type was present in 62% of the cases; the basal-cell type, in 33%, and the melanotic type, in 2%. The auricle was involved in 85% of the cases; the external canal, in 14%, and the middle ear, in 2%.
This article deals with three cases of basal-cell carcinoma which were studied by my associates and me. Two cases have been reported by Grabscheid2 and Novak3 respectively and are briefly mentioned in this article. In addition I have reported a case of my own. The term "basal-cell carcinoma" is used in the broad sense, including epithelial tumors which are not classified as squamous-cell carcinomas, in other words, tumors which are supposed to originate in the basilar layer of the epidermis