Cholesteatoma is an abnormal formation of benign cystic lesions from the squamous epithelium of the temporal bone, and the local invasive growth could damage the structures of middle ear. Cholesteatoma has been the research focus in otorhinolaryngology, however the pathogenesis of it is still unclear. From the previous studies we found that the epidermal proliferation was one of the important factors in the pathogenesis of the cholesteatoma, which was also involved in multiple proliferation pathways. In this paper, we briefly reviewed the progress and the mechanisms of the actions of cholesteatoma in these pathways.

Cholesteatoma; Cell proliferation; Signal transduction