RT Book, Section A1 Alexander , H. Richard A1 Burke, Allen P. A2 Morita, Shane Y. A2 Balch, Charles M. A2 Klimberg, V. Suzanne A2 Pawlik, Timothy M. A2 Posner, Mitchell C. A2 Tanabe, Kenneth K. SR Print(0) ID 1145763262 T1 Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma T2 Textbook of Complex General Surgical Oncology YR 2018 FD 2018 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071793315 LK accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1145763262 RD 2024/10/05 AB Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but highly lethal cancer that arises from the serosal membranes of the abdominal cavity. MPM represents about 15 to 20 percent of all malignant mesothelioma diagnoses which translates into approximately 350 to 450 new cases in the United States annually. Patients with MPM almost always succumb to disease progression within the abdominal cavity. There is a strong etiologic association with asbestos exposure although the link has not been as firmly established as in the pleural variant; in almost 40% of individuals with MPM no definite exposure to asbestos can be established. Because of its rarity, progress in the understanding of its molecular biology and advances in the development of more efficacious systemic treatments have been very limited. The disease afflicts gender equally but women and younger patients tend to have a better outcome. Systemic chemotherapy using a combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed has limited efficacy in controlling the disease long-term while surgical cytoreduction (CRS or cytoreduction surgery) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has become the accepted initial therapeutic intervention in appropriately selected patients with this disease.