SMAD3 and cholesteatoma: Relative to cholesteatoma progression, the potential for enhanced growth of cholesteatoma cells indicated by our finding of ERBB2IP signaling downregulation was accompanied by enhanced expression of antiapoptotic genes, such as cFLIP/CFLAR [40] and downregulation of the proapoptotic inducer SMAD3 [41], which is in contrast to some other inflammatory diseases [42].