Peritoneal cancer is relatively rare, and can and often is initially mistaken for the more common ovarian cancer, as the symptoms are very similar. Some unfortunate women who have survived ovarian cancer by way of the complete removal of their ovaries will later on suffer from this rare form of cancer but that is far from a certainty.

The peritoneum is delicate thin layer of skin that acts as a lining for the inside of the abdomen walls and then extends over the uterus, bladder and rectum. When functioning correctly the peritoneum excretes a lubricating fluid that helps organs the organs within the abdomen move and function smoothly.

Like the ovaries the peritoneum contains cells called epithelial cells. It is for this reason that many of the symptoms of both ovarian cancer and peritoneal cancer are very similar, and like ovarian cancer this is a disease that can be very hard to diagnose until it is in the later, harder to treat stages.

Like most cancers peritoneal cancer is “staged” and treatment will be coordinated and implemented according to what stage a patient’s cancer has progressed to. Stage 3 peritoneal cancers finds the cancer still contained within the abdomen, yet to spread or metastasize to other organs outside the abdomen. The cells involved in peritoneal cancer are also graded with what are medically termed Grade 3 cells being very abnormal in appearance and usually determined to be aggressive, growing and spreading very quickly.

Treatment for Stage 3 peritoneal cancer is often approached in a very similar way that the treatment for ovarian cancer is. In some cases surgery at this stage is still a possibility, and that procedure is often followed up with courses of chemotherapy and or radiation. The exact treatment course is a matter to be determined on an individual case by case basis between the patient and their oncologist and other medical professionals involved in their care.

Current figures suggest that at present the five year survival rate for those whose peritoneal cancer is first diagnosed at Stage 3 is approximately 20%, as compared to 95% for those fortunate to be diagnosed at the initial Stage 1, meaning that early diagnosis, as with all cancers, is crucial to the chances of patient survival.

Many researchers are looking into new and more effective ways to treat Stage 3 peritoneal cancers as surgery is not always possible and chemotherapy and radiation have variable success rates and can produce debilitating side effects. The treatments being researched include gene therapy, hormone therapy and dietary modification.