Various types of carcinomatosis: abdominal, pleural
Multiple metastatic damage by cancer cells of serous membranes (peritoneum, pleura) and tissues of parenchymal organs is called carcinomatosis. The cause of carcinomatosis is the progression of an oncological disease and the spread of metastatic foci in the peritoneum or pleura with the flow of blood and lymph. The frequency of development of carcinomatosis depends on the primary location of the tumor, its size, histotype, and degree of differentiation.
Carcinomatosis of the peritoneum and pleura
One of the types of carcinomatosis is carcinomatosis of the peritoneum - a secondary malignant lesion of the peritoneum as a result of the progression of cancer of various localization. Carcinomatosis of the peritoneum occurs in 20-30% of patients with oncology: in 40% of cases, the complication is observed in malignant tumors of the gastrointestinal tract (small intestine, stomach, pancreas, etc.), in 30% - in ovarian cancer. In some cases, the primary cell cannot be established.
Peritoneal carcinomatosis is considered an unfavorable prognostic factor. This form of metastasis is difficult to treat. Surgical removal of the primary focus with peritoneal metastases, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy improve the patient's condition only for a while. Diagnostic and therapeutic laparocentesis is also performed - puncture of the abdominal cavity.
The main signs of pathology:
- ascites (accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity);
- progressive weight loss;
- weakness.
Carcinomatosis of the pleura is called multiple metastases of a malignant tumor in the pleura. Tumor metastasis to the pleura can occur from almost any organ. Most often, carcinomatosis of the pleura occurs with cancer of the breast, lungs, stomach, kidney, thyroid gland, ovary, and bone sarcoma.
With carcinomatosis of the pleura, the permeability of blood vessels increases, the outflow of lymph is disturbed, which leads to the accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity and the development of pleurisy. At the same time, the lungs are compressed and the organs of the mediastinum are displaced.
Symptoms of pleural carcinomatosis:
- weakness;
- decrease in body weight;
- signs of exudative pleurisy (cough with sputum, shortness of breath, pain in the side). Read more about the symptoms of pleurisy on our website https://dobrobut.com/.
The prognosis for carcinomatosis of the pleura is unfavorable. Treatment includes: pleurocentesis (pleural puncture) to remove exudate and administration of antitumor drugs, cytoreductive operations, targeted and chemotherapy, symptomatic therapy.
Complications with carcinomatosis
The tactics of cancer treatment depends on the cause - the primary disease. Therapy of carcinomatosis of serous membranes is aimed at prolonging and improving the patient's quality of life. During the surgical operation, secondary tumor foci (metastases) are removed. Chemotherapeutic anticancer agents are used for systemic chemotherapy. Since such therapy is quite toxic and difficult for patients to tolerate, doctors use a relatively new method of treating carcinomatosis - hyperthermic chemotherapy.
Heating increases the ability of anticancer drugs to kill cancer cells. The method is used for the treatment of oncological diseases with metastases in the abdominal cavity. Before administration, the drug is heated to a certain temperature, which allows the drug to penetrate deeper into the tumor tissue. The advantage of the method is the introduction of anticancer drugs in a higher concentration directly into the abdominal cavity. This increases the effectiveness of treatment and reduces its toxic effect on the body. As a result, patients tolerate hyperthermic chemotherapy much better than systemic chemotherapy.
Another direction in the treatment of malignant tumors is targeted therapy. Such drugs have a different mechanism of action. Most of them are available in the form of tablets. Medicines are low-toxic, rarely cause complications. That is, when taking a course of targeted therapy, patients do not need to stay in a hospital.
The main complications of carcinomatosis are ascites and pleurisy. The prognosis in these cases is unfavorable.
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