What would cause a Dr. to biopsy someone's ear? Please only answer if you know what you're talking about!

Question

My mother told me yesterday that my brother had a "pencil-eraser-sized" piece of his ear removed to have it biopsied. I assume from inside his ear. She didn't have further details and he's very private regarding health matters, so I can't really ask him (since Mom wasn't even supposed to tell me) but I did some research online and got a little info on ear surgery. Still, since I know nothing about his symptoms, I'm not sure just how concerned to be about this. From what I read, even some of the benign ear tumors cause quite serious problems and require surgery. Does anyone have any insight into this? Thanks!

We're grown adults living in separate households, we're not all that close with each other so we don't talk much but I still care what happens to him. I'm not sure if it was in the office or the hospital, but I have the idea it was to test for something, I'm just not sure exactly what or what would prompt them to perform this to begin with... like, under what circumstances or what set of symptoms would a person have to have for a doctor to perform a biopsy on their ear?

Answer 1

Registered Nurse here; Biopsy's are done to rule out malignant cells/cancer. They are done when an area looks suspicious. Such as: A mole that has become darker or changed colors, or pigment is different color in that area of the ear. My guess is the biopsy was done on the pinna, which is the outside of the ear, inside the ear a biopsy would usually require general anesthesia.
Over 90 percent of the time these biopsy's come back benign, however I would also be concerned if I or a member of my family was having a biopsy. Try and think positive, if the biopsy is abnormal, chances are very good that the cancer was caught early. Also there are many skin cancers that are localized and takes years to invade the body. The Doctor may of just wanted to biopsy the area to make sure no atypical cells are present. Excellent question. Hope this helps you out.

Answer 2

Almost certainly they were looking for skin cancer. The ears are often exposed to sunlight and not covered with sunscreen so are very prone to skin cancer.

Some other "ear tumors" you read about would require brain surgery not a biopsy. They are also quite rare compared to skin cancer.

Meanwhile, how serious is this? It really depends on which type of skin cancer and how invasive it turns out to be. Some melanomas can be quite serious if they become metastatic, (spread to other organs),but are quite curable if they haven't. Squamous cancer can also be serious if it spreads, but often is found before it does. Basal cell cancer is quite treatable.

Below is the American Academy of Dermatology site on skin cancer.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

It just depends on where they took it from. It could be he had a spot on the outside, which they could be checking for skin cancer. If it's on the inside I can't imagine them being able to do it in the office. My sister had a tumor in her ear, they had to do extensive surgery to remove it, so it doesn't sound like that to me.

Answer 5

Lots of skin cancers can be present on the outside of the ear. Maybe he had a suspicious lesion/mole that was removed to ensure it wasn't cancerous.

Answer 6

Could be cancer or the ear....could be just to see if his hearing is going bad (they count the numbers of hairs inside your ears, the more you have the better you hear)
He's your brother...I'd ask him...I don't care how private he is, is he living in the house with all of you ??? Then ask him...