Occurrence of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma after surgery and irradiation for cervical cancer

Mesothelioma of the peritoneal cavity after irradiation is rare, and the diagnosis is sometimes difficult to establish. The following case is a report of a mesothelioma occurring 9 years after radiation therapy for carcinoma of the cervix. In this patient, who had a hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy 7 years prior to the mesothelioma diagnosis, the histologic, histochemical, and ultrastructural findings were all consistent with a diagnosis of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. It is believed that this case is one of the first well-documented cases of peritoneal mesothelioma in a female who was treated by pelvic irradiation for another neoplasm.