Peritoneal Cancer

UT Southwestern Medical Center offers rare expertise in peritoneal cancer. We have the most advanced treatments, including cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), which are offered only at top cancer centers. 

As the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in North Texas, we deliver the best cancer care available today and push to discover new treatments. NCI designation means we offer patients the ability to participate in the broadest possible range of clinical trials, with access to potential therapies not available at other facilities.

Experts in Unique Treatment for Peritoneal Cancer

Peritoneal cancer is a rare cancer that spreads to the peritoneum – the thin layer of cells that lines the inside wall of the abdomen and covers the uterus, bladder, stomach, intestines, and rectum. 

Cancer that originates in the peritoneum – even rarer – is called primary peritoneal cancer. One type of primary peritoneal cancer is peritoneal malignant mesothelioma.

It’s more common for cancer cells to begin elsewhere in the body and spread to the peritoneum. This type is known as secondary peritoneal cancer. Secondary peritoneal  cancers originate elsewhere in the abdominal space, such as in the:

• Appendix
• Bladder
• Colon (large intestine)
• Fallopian tubes
• Ovaries
• Rectum
• Small bowel (small intestine)
• Stomach

Whether peritoneal cancer starts in the peritoneum or spreads from somewhere else, it is considered advanced once it’s in the peritoneum. 

Peritoneal Cancer Care at UT Southwestern

Our multidisciplinary Peritoneal Malignancies and HIPEC Program provides the most advanced treatments, including cytoreductive surgery to remove visible tumors in the abdomen combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) – a complex and highly specialized treatment available only at top cancer centers and only for certain patients with primary and secondary peritoneal cancer.

At UT Southwestern, patients with peritoneal cancer receive:

• Expert diagnosis and staging by our cancer specialists with years of experience in evaluating and diagnosing peritoneal cancer
• Treatment plans tailored to each individual, including access to treatment not offered at other medical centers
• Support services, such as cancer nutrition and rehabilitation, to help improve quality of life
• Genetic counseling for people with primary peritoneal cancers that can result from inherited gene mutations 

Find out more about peritoneal cancer’s symptoms and risk factors, as well as awareness and prevention.

Clinical Trials

Depending on the cause and extent of the cancer, some patients might be eligible to participate in clinical trials of new treatments for the disease. Treatments used today for peritoneal cancer, such as the complex technique of cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC, are the result of past clinical trials. 

UT Southwestern offers hundreds of clinical trials for many different types of cancer at different stages. When patients take part in a clinical trial, they add to the knowledge about cancer and help improve cancer care. Talk to our doctors for more information about clinical trials.