Your abdomen is lined with a membrane called the peritoneum. Peritoneal surface malignancy or peritoneal carcinomatosis is one of a variety of tumors that spread through the abdominal cavity and may or may not also involve solid organs such as the liver, spleen and lymph nodes.
Cancer can originate from the appendix, colon, rectum, stomach (gastric), ovaries and other organs and then spread over the peritoneal surface of the abdominal cavity and other organs. It can also originate in the peritoneal lining and are called mesotheliomas or primary peritoneal cancers.
Commonly thought of as incurable tumors in the past, they can respond well to an aggressive therapy consisting of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).
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