Peritoneal nesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Peritoneal nesothelioma, by P.S. Chan, T.W. Balfour, J.B. Bourke, et al (The British Journal of Surgery, 1975).

The study

• Authors: P.S. Chan, T.W. Balfour, J.B. Bourke, P.G. Smith
• Journal: The British Journal of Surgery
• Published: 1975;62(7):576-80
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 25 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Two patients with primary peritoneal mesothelioma are reported. They had abdominal symptoms, no symptoms referable to the respiratory system and normal chest X-rays. There was no clinical evidence of impaired respiratory function. One of the patients had a history of brief asbestos exposure over 20 years before diagnosis. The procedure for obtaining compensation is outlined and the protean uses of, and hence possible exposure to, asbestos are noted. In screening programmes consideration should be given to both pulmonary and abdominal symptoms. Laparoscopy may have a part to play in earlier diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma.

In plain English

This article is a case report of two patients with primary peritoneal mesothelioma, a tumour of the lining of the abdomen. Both were seen at the Professorial Surgical Unit in Nottingham over a period of just over one year. The first, a 64-year-old man, was first treated for gallbladder disease. Small white nodules seen at his gallbladder operation were taken for fat necrosis, and a large abdominal tumour developed within months. During the Second World War he had fitted asbestos filter pads while assembling respirators. His chest X-rays showed no pleural plaques, but at autopsy he had pleural plaques and asbestos bodies in his lungs. The second, a 75-year-old retired policeman, had an abdominal mass and anaemia. His family reported no apparent home or work exposure to asbestos, and he survived for 14 months. Both had abdominal masses, neither had ascites, and neither showed chest X-ray abnormality. The authors concluded that screening of asbestos workers should consider both pulmonary and abdominal symptoms, and that laparoscopy may help earlier diagnosis. They noted that sophisticated respiratory studies were not performed.

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 (two patients)
• Who was studied: Two men with primary peritoneal mesothelioma seen at the Professorial Surgical Unit, Nottingham, England, in the early 1970s: a 64-year-old man (Case 1) and a 75-year-old retired policeman with gout (Case 2)
• Exposure: Case 1 had fitted asbestos filter pads while assembling respirators during the Second World War, described as brief exposure over 20 years before diagnosis; no fiber type was stated. Case 2 had no apparent domestic or industrial asbestos exposure according to his family.
• Main results:
  • Case 1: at his gallbladder operation, small white nodules on the peritoneum were thought to be fat necrosis. Later biopsies showed mesothelioma of a tubulopapillary pattern.
  • Case 1: chest X-rays reviewed after diagnosis showed no pleural plaques. At autopsy (he died 17 February 1974) there were pleural plaques and asbestos bodies in the lungs.
  • Case 2: biopsies showed epithelial-type peritoneal mesothelioma. He died at home in July 1973 without a post-mortem, having survived for 14 months.
  • Both patients had abdominal masses and neither had ascites, which the authors contrasted with literature reports that ascites is common.
  • Neither patient showed chest X-ray abnormality, even though Case 1 had pleural and diaphragmatic plaques at autopsy.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that screening of asbestos workers should consider both pulmonary and abdominal symptoms, and that laparoscopy in appropriate patients might help earlier diagnosis.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Only routine clinical assessment of respiratory function was done; sophisticated studies were not performed.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma, Peritoneal mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Chest X-Ray, Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Peritoneal mesothelioma presenting surgically — P.G. Smith, P.M. Higgins, et al. (1968)
• 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)
• Papillary peritoneal tumors in women — A. Foyle, M. Al-Jabi, et al. (1981)

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