Gynecologic Cancer

Peritoneal Cancer

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

Treatment for peritoneum cancer will depend on a number of factors, including:

• The stage of your cancer, or how advanced it is
• How extensively your cancer has metastasized, or spread to other parts of the body
• Your general health

You and your doctor will work together to develop the most effective treatment plan that best meets your needs.

Treatment for peritoneum cancer may include combinations of the following approaches:

• Surgery -- Surgery may be used to diagnose and treat peritoneum cancer if the place where the cancer first started to grow is unclear, or if you have a pelvic mass. This procedure is called exploratory surgery, during which the tumor is removed from the lining of the abdomen where the cancer has started to grow.

• Chemotherapy -- Chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs, which are usually injected into a vein. The drugs used for peritoneum cancer are similar to those anti-cancer drugs used for treating ovarian cancer. Depending on the type of chemotherapy drugs used, this treatment can be given weekly or every two to three weeks. In most cases, patients receive the treatment on an outpatient basis.

• Supportive care -- Unfortunately, in some cases, peritoneum cancer is not diagnosed until it has advanced. Supportive care, also known as palliative care, is designed for patients whose disease has advanced to the point where they are too ill to cope with intensive chemotherapy. Supportive care aims to relieve symptoms of peritoneum cancer, such as pain, weight loss and fluid in the abdomen, which can be drained during a procedure called, abdominal paracentesis.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated August 1, 2007