A Case of Obstructive Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma Treated With Postoperative Concomitant Cisplatin and Pemetrexed Chemotherapy

Abstract

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare disease with no established therapeutic method. A 79-year-old man underwent partial resection of the small intestine and right hemicolectomy for a bowel obstruction due to a mass in the small intestine and a submucosal tumor in the transverse colon. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma was diagnosed from the excised specimen. After surgery, the patient received cisplatin and pemetrexed therapy, the standard treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. The progression of the remaining disseminated lesions was controlled for a year, and the patient led a satisfactory life without adverse events. He had a bowel obstruction 12 months after the surgery, and showed increased fluorodeoxyglucose uptake and new sites of high fluorodeoxyglucose uptake. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography was useful as the index of disease progression. Despite a second resection, the patient died 14 months after the first surgery.