Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma in a 16-Year-Old Girl: Presentation of a Rare Disease

Background: Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is extremely rarely seen in young patients. Patient: A 16 year-old girl presented with appendicitis-like acute abdominal pain. Intra-operatively, multiple confluent peritoneal nodules were seen on the entire greater omentum and in the pelvis infiltrating the uterus and both ovaries. Biopsies were obtained and interpreted as serous ovarian carcinoma. Radical surgical resection and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) with carboplatin was performed and followed by 2 cycles of carboplatin/paclitaxel. Histological reevaluation showed characteristic features of epithelioid peritoneal mesothelioma and ruled out serous ovarian cancer. Therapy was continued with 6 cycles of pemetrexed/cisplatin. Results: 3 months after end of chemotherapy vital tumor tissue was found in the recess behind the liver, which could be resected completely. The patient is currently disease-free 17 months after initial diagnosis. Conclusion: Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in young female patients might be under-recognized and possibly misdiagnosed as ovarian serous carcinoma in some cases. International and interdisciplinary cooperation is necessary in order to provide evidence based guidelines for diagnosis and treatment in the future.