An Unusual Case of Primary Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Abstract

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare disease, but it is increasing in frequency. Because of its unusual nature, the disease has not been clearly defined either in terms of its natural history, diagnosis, or management. Peritoneal mesothelioma patients generally present with two types of symptoms and signs; those with abdominal pain, usually localized and related to a dominant tumor mass with little or no ascites and those without abdominal pain, but with ascites and abdominal distention. Prognosis as determined by clinical presentation, the completeness of cytoreduction, and gender (females survive longer than males) appears to be improved by the use of intraperitoneal chemotherapy. We would like to report a case where our patient primarily presented with peritoneal mesothelioma without pleural involvement that responded well to standard wide surgical excision and postoperative chemotherapy.