Peritoneal Mesothelioma affects all of the organs in the abdomen.  Symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma include abdominal pains, bloating, bowel obstruction and anemia.  Many people who become affected with Peritoneal Mesothelioma have been exposed to asbestos.  It is believed that the inhalation of asbestos causes Peritoneal Mesothelioma.  Other forms of this rare cancer include those that affect the tissue surround the lungs and reproductive organs.

Treatment for Peritoneal Mesothelioma can sometimes include surgery, depending upon how much tissue surrounding the organs is affected.  If the disease is not advanced, the tissue can be removed.  Chemotherapy is usually used as is radiation to kill any existing cancer cells or to shrink tumors. 

Peritoneal Mesothelioma is difficult to diagnose as the symptoms mirror many other symptoms.  Because Peritoneal Mesothelioma is such a rare disease, most physicians will not allow this to be their first diagnoses, but their last.  In order to get a positive diagnosis of Peritoneal Mesothelioma, a biopsy of the tissue surrounding the abdominal cavity must be performed.  In many cases, the disease of Peritoneal Mesothelioma has spread beyond the tissue and into the abdominal organs.  Surgery can sometimes be performed on those organs, depending upon how far the disease has spread.

Although Peritoneal Mesothelioma is not a common cancer, advances over the past year in treating this disease as well as diagnosing it have made it possible for more people who are diagnosed with Peritoneal Mesothelioma to live longer and more productive lives.  Although rare and difficult to diagnose, not every diagnosis of Peritoneal Mesothelioma is a death sentence.   Many people who are diagnosed with this cancer have, because of modern treatments, been able to go into remission and lead normal lives that are cancer free.  Advances are still being made in the medical community for better treatment of Peritoneal Mesothelioma.