Peritoneal Mesothelioma

The peritoneal mesothelioma patients tend to have a strong exposure to asbestos fibers into the air. The latent period between exposure to asbestos and the onset of the disease has an average of 20-30 years. This is shorter than for pleural mesothelioma, which has a latency period of 30-40 years. A study by the Washington Cancer Institute, a leader in the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma, showed that patients typically present with either abdominal pain (33%) or increased abdominal girth (31%). Other symptoms include hernia ion in 12%, increased abdominal girth and pain at 5%, with the remaining 19% having a variety of other clinical symptoms such as anorexia, dispend, fever and abdominal tumor. Due to the heterogeneity of these clinical symptoms, patients often do not recognize their sinister nature until too late. In advanced stages, may experience acute problems, such as intestinal obstruction, perforation or severe as cites, requiring emergency surgery. Occasionally, however, the diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma is incidentally during abdominal palpation and /or pelvic or laparoscopy performed for another reason.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma behaves very similar to other cancers of the peritoneal surface. This includes the peritoneal pseudomyxoma of the appendix, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer and peritoneal sarcomatosis. Therefore, patients with these cancers of the peritoneal surface could be presented in a similar way, adding to the diagnostic problems related to vague clinical symptoms associated. Several paraneoplastic syndromes have also been reported in peritoneal mesothelioma, including hematologic disorders such as thrombocytosis, venous thrombosis, liver disease and paraneoplastic wasting syndrome.