Metastatic adenocarcinomas of the temporal bone: a report of three cases.

We reported three cases with adenocarcinomas of the lung, prostate and stomach, which metastasized to the temporal bone. Two of them had proven adenocarcinoma of the lung and stomach, respectively at the time of the diagnosis of the temporal bone tumor. But the other patient had no known primary malignancy when the tumor in the petrous apex was demonstrated radiologically. First he underwent biopsy of the petrous apex lesion and the pathology was reported as malignant; then a probable distant malignancy spreading to the temporal bone was suspected and searched for. Subsequently, his prostate adenocarcinoma was proved with prostate biopsy.