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Sara Daniel, M.D., Surgical Oncologist: Peritoneal surface malignancy encompasses a wide range of conditions. It can be what we could consider primary peritoneal surface malignancy or cancer that starts in the peritoneum or the lining of the abdominal cavity. Most of the cases that we see, however, are what we consider secondary peritoneal surface malignancy or tumors that started in another organ and then metastasized or spread to the lining of the abdominal cavity.

Every day we're learning more about peritoneal surface malignancy.

Treatment encompasses both the systemic treatment as well as the potential surgery when possible. One of the most common surgical treatments that we use here at Mayo for peritoneal surface malignancy is a combination of surgery, which you might hear called cytoreduction, where we remove all of the disease, and then once all the disease is removed at the time of surgery, we actually apply a heated chemotherapy bath to the abdominal cavity, which you might hear as HIPEC or heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy. This is still a surgery that's not offered everywhere in the United States, so going to see a high-volume center that specializes in peritoneal surface malignancy, I think, gives you the best chance of having a successful operation.

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Sept. 05, 2026