Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma, by T. Fukunaga, Y. Somatomo, J. Kamiyama, et al (Chonnam Medical Journal, 2022).

The study

• Authors: T. Fukunaga, Y. Somatomo, J. Kamiyama, T. Kasanami
• Journal: Chonnam Medical Journal
• Published: 2022;58(3):133-134
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This was a brief case report, published as an 'Images in Clinical Medicine' item, about one patient at Sonobe Hospital in Kyoto, Japan. The 74-year-old patient arrived with abdominal swelling that had gradually worsened over 3 months. A CT scan showed a large amount of fluid in the abdomen (ascites) and many nodules. Doctors suspected cancer spread in the abdominal lining or tuberculosis, but common tumor markers and tests of the fluid did not give a diagnosis. Exploratory laparoscopy, a keyhole operation, found numerous nodules on the abdominal lining and the omentum. Biopsy analysis showed the epithelioid type of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Because there was also a moderate amount of fluid around both lungs, the patient was referred to a university hospital and started treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab. The report did not describe any asbestos exposure history or the patient's outcome. In background notes citing a published review, the authors wrote that the link with asbestos exposure is weaker for peritoneal mesothelioma than for pleural mesothelioma.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Case report (single patient), published as an 'Images in Clinical Medicine' item
• Who was studied: One 74-year-old patient (sex not stated) seen at Sonobe Hospital, Kyoto, Japan; date of care not stated
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure or other exposure history is reported for the patient. In background text attributed to a cited review, the authors state that the link with asbestos exposure is weaker for peritoneal than for pleural mesothelioma
• Main results:
  • Abdominal CT showed massive ascites and many nodular shadows
  • Common tumor markers and cytology of the ascites did not establish a diagnosis
  • Exploratory laparoscopy found numerous nodules on the peritoneum and omentum
  • Histopathological analysis of biopsy samples gave a diagnosis of the epithelioid type of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma
  • The patient was referred to a university hospital and started nivolumab plus ipilimumab because of moderate bilateral pleural effusions

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Peritoneal mesothelioma — M. Kannerstein, J. Churg (1977)
• Intraperitoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal surface malignancy: experience with 1,000 patients — E.A. Levine, J.H. Stewart, et al. (2014)
• Epidemiology of peritoneal mesothelioma: a review — P. Boffetta (2007)
• Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: a systematic review and meta-analysis — J.H. Helm, J.T. Miura, et al. (2015)
• Absence of carcinogenic response to multiwall carbon nanotubes in a 2-year bioassay in the peritoneal cavity of the rat — J. Muller, M. Delos, et al. (2009)
• Papillary peritoneal tumors in women — A. Foyle, M. Al-Jabi, et al. (1981)

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