Symptoms, Diagnostic Tests And Treatments For Peritoneal Mesothelioma
The symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma vary due to the location and may include abdominal mass, mild to severe abdominal pain, distention of the abdomen, bowel obstruction, fatigue, weight loss, anemia, ascites and fever.
Since these symptoms are frequently mistaken for other illnesses, the diagnosis if often missed. A thorough patient history is very important to determine any past exposure to asbestos.
Traditional x-rays, CT scan, MRI, PET scans, and Peritoneoscopy with tissue biopsy are used to determine the diagnosis. Peritoneal mesothelioma is often diagnosed at a late stage.
Treatments include: Cytoreductive surgery, debulking of the tumor which results in no peritoneal seeding found or only nodules of less than 2.5 cm are left. These nodules are thought to be responsive to intraperitoneal chemotherapy, intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy (IPHC) and/or radiation. Thermotherapy may also be used to increase the cellular response to the chemotherapy agents.
