Primary malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: appearance on F-18 FDG positron emission tomographic images

Our plain-English summary of Primary malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: appearance on F-18 FDG positron emission tomographic images, by T.N. Eade, M.J. Fulham, C.J. Constable (Clinical Nuclear Medicine, 2002).

The study

• Authors: T.N. Eade, M.J. Fulham, C.J. Constable
• Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine
• Published: 2002;27(12):924-5
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

A case of primary peritoneal mesothelioma is reported with fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). A 68-year-old man with known asbestos exposure had vague right upper quadrant pain and an abdominal mass. Biopsy showed a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. He subsequently underwent an FDG-PET scan. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare disorder that usually presents in its end stage with nonspecific abdominal pain and less frequently with signs of bowel obstruction. It is the only primary cancer of the peritoneal surface.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This short case report, from authors at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney, Australia, described one patient. A 68-year-old man with known asbestos exposure had vague right upper quadrant pain and an abdominal mass. A biopsy showed malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the abdomen. He then had an FDG-PET scan, a type of medical imaging. It showed markedly increased FDG uptake throughout the entire abdomen, encasing the spleen, liver and loops of bowel. The authors described the tumor in this case as diffuse nodules and plaques encasing the abdominal organs. A CT scan showed widespread thickening of the omentum encasing several bowel loops. PET showed no abnormal uptake in the pleura (the lining of the chest). CT did show a calcified pleural plaque, which the authors called consistent with his known asbestos exposure. The authors concluded that this supported their impression of a primary peritoneal mesothelioma without pleural involvement. The article did not say what type of asbestos was involved or how he was exposed.

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 'Interesting Images' item)
• Who was studied: one 68-year-old man with known asbestos exposure, vague right upper quadrant pain and an abdominal mass; authors based at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, and the University of Sydney, Australia; dates of the case not given
• Exposure: 'known asbestos exposure'; no fiber type, job, product or dose is given
• Main results:
  • A biopsy showed a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in this patient
  • The patient underwent an FDG-PET scan after the biopsy
  • FDG-PET images showed markedly increased FDG uptake throughout the entire abdomen, encasing the spleen, liver and loops of bowel
  • In this case the tumor appeared as diffuse nodules and plaques encasing the abdominal viscera
  • Contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen showed widespread thickening and induration of the omentum encasing several bowel loops
  • PET showed no abnormal pleural FDG uptake, while the corresponding CT slice showed a calcified pleural plaque, which the authors described as consistent with the patient's known asbestos exposure
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the findings supported their impression of a primary peritoneal mesothelioma without pleural involvement

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, Asbestos Exposure, Biopsy, PET Scan.

Related studies

• Positron emission tomography with f18-fluorodeoxyglucose in the staging and preoperative evaluation of malignant pleural mesothelioma — D.B. Schneider, C. Clary-Macy, et al. (2000)
• Clinical value of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography in differentiation of malignant mesothelioma from asbestos-related benign pleural disease: an observational pilot study — H. Yildirim, M. Metintas, et al. (2009)
• Relationship between 18F-FDG uptake on positron emission tomography and molecular biology in malignant pleural mesothelioma — K. Kaira, M. Serizawa, et al. (2012)
• Integrated positron emission tomography-computed tomography does not accurately stage intrathoracic disease of patients undergoing trimodality therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma — J. Pilling, J.A. Dartnell, et al. (2010)
• 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography as a tool for response prediction in solid tumours — D.J. De Maeseneer, B. Lambert, et al. (2010)
• 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography fused imaging in malignant mesothelioma patients: looking from outside is not enough — E. Roca, S. Laroumagne, et al. (2013)

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