Primary Peritoneal Papillary Serous Cystadenocarcinoma - A Rare Malignancy

Primary peritoneal papillary serous carcinoma is a rare primary malignancy diffusively involving the peritoneum of abdomen and pelvis. Epithelial ovarian cancers and primary peritoneal cancers arise from the common germinal epithelium which develops from the coelomic epithelium. Due to a common embryonic origin of the ovary and the peritoneum, carcinoma of the ovary and primary peritoneal carcinoma have much histological similarity. However the incidence of Primary peritoneal serous carcinoma is considerably lower than that of epithelial ovarian cancer and is mostly seen in elderly women. Early stages of this disease may be asymptomatic; symptoms of the advance stages of the disease include abdominal distention, abdominal lump, non-specific abdominal pain, vomiting and dyspnoea all as a result of massive ascites. Patients diagnosed with primary peritoneal papillary serous carcinoma are treated using the same staging, surgical and chemotherapeutic approach as epithelial ovarian cancer because of the similarities in biological behavior.