Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma treated by continuous hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion chemotherapy

Malignant mesothelioma of the peritoneum is a rare tumour for which the the rapeutic approach has not yet been standardized. The efficacy of the curren t regimes is limited. Effective locoregional therapy is crucial, since this tumour is most often confined to the peritoneal cavity at the time of the initial diagnosis and remains there for much of its clinical course. If and when haematogenous metastases occur, they rarely contribute to the death o f the patient, which is often caused by the overgrowth of the primary tumou r and its local complications. A case of diffuse malignant peritoneal mesot helioma treated by cytoreductive surgery and continuous hyperthermic perito neal perfusion with cisplatin is reported. The patient received systemic co mbination chemotherapy postoperatively. She is in good condition and free o f disease 28 months after her treatment. Continuous hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion chemotherapy has recently been used in patients with secondary p eritoneal carcinomatosis from digestive and gynecological malignancies with promising results. It is also possible that the same treatment alone or in combination with systemic chemotherapy may be effective in the treatment o f primary peritoneal malignancies, as in the case of diffuse peritoneal mes othelioma.