Peritoneal Cancer: Symptoms, Treatment and Lifetime

Peritoneal cancer is a rare type of tumor that appears in the tissue that covers the entire inside of the abdomen and its organs, causing symptoms similar to those of ovarian cancer, such as abdominal pain, nausea and swollen belly, for example.

The life span for peritoneal cancer is 5 to 10 years, however, when the malignant tumor is discovered at an early stage and does not affect other areas of the body, the person can live longer, but it will always be necessary to perform tests annually forever.

Generally, peritoneal cancer is more common in women or in patients who have cancer in other abdominal organs and can therefore be divided into 2 types:

• Primary peritoneal cancer or mesothelioma: when cellular changes occur in it first;
• Secondary peritoneal cancer or carcinomatosis: when the cancer has arisen due to metastases of cancer in other organs.

Peritoneal cancer has healing through chemotherapy and surgery, especially when the cancer has not yet spread to other organs such as lungs or liver.

Symptoms of Peritoneal Cancer

Symptoms of peritoneal cancer include:

• Swelling of the abdomen, also known as ascites;
• Abdominal pain;
• Constipation or diarrhea;
• Tiredness and general malaise;
• Lack of appetite;
• Difficulty in the digestion of food;
• Loss of weight without apparent cause.

The diagnosis of peritoneal cancer can be made by the general practitioner through blood tests, ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging or abdominal laparoscopy.

Treatment for Peritoneal Cancer

Treatment for peritoneal cancer should be guided by an oncologist and is usually started with surgery to remove the tumor. However, in most cases, it is not possible to remove all of the affected tissue and therefore it may be necessary to use chemotherapy or radiotherapy to eliminate the remaining cancerous cells in the abdomen.

In more severe cases, where peritoneal cancer is in the terminal stage, other organs such as kidneys, bladder and intestines are also affected, in which case the patient's life expectancy is greatly reduced.