Primary peritoneal cancer is a cancer of the cells lining the peritoneum, or abdominal cavity.
Prognosis and treatment is the same as for the most common variation of ovarian cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer.
Some studies indicate that between 7 and 20 percent of initially diagnosed epithelial ovarian cancers could be properly reclassified as primary peritoneal cancers.
The cancer does involve mesothelial cells and can be medically described as mesothelioma; however, this cancer should not be confused with asbestos-related mesothelioma, which requires different treatments and has a much higher mortality rate.
