Peritoneal Cancer Survival Rate

Primary peritoneal cancer (PPC) is a very rare cancer that affects a very particular part of the body. In your abdomen, covering all the organs located there, lubricating them so they can move around and acting as a "conduit for blood, lymphatic vessels and nerves" is a very thin membrane known as the peritoneum.

When cancer develops in the cells of this membrane, it is known as primary peritoneal cancer. because it affects a surface of the body, it is designated as a carcinoma.

Symptoms of Primary Peritoneal Cancer

General, non-specific symptoms that are associated with PPC are:

• Abdominal swelling or bloating
• Abdominal pain
• Indigestion
• Abnormal vaginal bleeding
• Nausea
• Altered appetite
• Unexplained changes in weight
• Frequent urination
• Constipation
• Diarrhea

Symptoms in this cancer tend to mimic those found in ovarian cancer.

Survival Rates of Primary Peritoneal Cancer

PPC is not typically diagnosed until the disease is in its later stages, thereby leading to a progressively poor prognosis. While there are no definitive, confirmed statistics for survival rates of primary peritoneal cancer, they are estimated by various sources to be similar to those of ovarian cancer, at least in terms of metastasized disease, although the prognosis is slightly worse.

This means that the estimated 5 year survival percentage of patients with advanced PPC is around 27 percent. Median survival times vary but are estimated to be between 12 and 18 months.

Sources

Primary Peritoneal Cancer Foundation

UCSF Medical Center, Peritoneal Cancer

National Cancer Institute SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Ovarian cancer

Yonemura Y et al. Quantitative prognostic indicators of peritoneal dissemination of gastric cancer. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2006 Aug;32(6):602-6.

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