Peritoneal Cancer: A Scary, Dormant & Ghost Killer. Why is It So Deadly?

Peritoneal cancer is one of the rarest types of malignancies that arise from peritoneal cells. Peritoneal cells protect the abdominal organs forming a thin and delicate sheet, peritoneum and by producing peritoneal fluids helping the abdominal organs move smoothly inside the abdomen.

The cancer of the peritoneum attacks the organs and in fact remains dormant for a long time before actually the disease activates. The normal cells of the abdominal cavity stop their normal growth and reproduction but begin proliferating in an uncontrolled fashion leading to thickened peritoneum and finally growth of cancerous tissues, the disease manifests itself as lumps.

Causes:

Precise causes of this disease are still a subject of research, but it has been seen that like all other cancers, peritoneal cancer could be caused due to exposure to asbestos and related materials. Again, women who are at a risk of developing ovarian cancer are at greater risk of developing peritoneal cancer due to genetic mutation and variants of BRCA.

Symptoms:

Peritoneal cancer resembles and behaves just similar to ovarian cancer. The warning signs include but not limited to frequent urination, loss of appetite, abdominal discomfort, sudden weight gain or weight loss, fever, fatigue and nausea.

Diagnoses:

Tests such as x-rays, CT-scans, MRI, Barium enema, biopsy and abdominal fluid aspiration supported by histopathological studies are done to ascertain the presence of malignancy as well as metastases of the cancer.

Treatment:

The treatment of peritoneal cancer depends upon the staging of the cancer, general health of the person affected and extent of cancer spread to other organs of the body.

But in general treatment involves a combination of procedures. It has been seen that in case of localized tumors, the cells are surgically excised while in cases where the cancer has metastasized to several areas, a combination of radiation and chemotherapy with surgical excision of tumor cells is done. But even under these circumstances when the patients are very weak for surgical excision are recommended of recourse to palliative treatment. The palliative treatment includes frequent drainage of fluid from the abdominal cavity besides pain management with drugs that render minimum side effects.

Prognosis:

Prognosis of peritoneal cancer generally depends upon the advancement of the disease, tumor location, age of the affected person and the development of associated symptoms.

In case even if the peritoneal cancer has gone into remission, diagnostic tests should be performed at periodic intervals; at least two times in a year considering the cancer has a very high chance of recurrence and patients might need frequent surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy.