A 71-year-old woman presented with an abdominal mass and
ascites and was subsequently admitted to our hospital in June 1995. Further examination revealed that the mass was malignant and, as a result, surgery was indicated. However, the mass demonstrated widespread peritoneal dissemination, which therefore could not be resected, and pathological findings suggested a malignant peritoneal
mesothelioma. The patient showed a remarkable response to combined
chemotherapy with an accompanying
intraperitoneal injection of
cisplatin and
etoposide and an
intravenous injection of
caffeine. However, owing to side effects, this regimen was discontinued. The patient was administered a
combination drug of
uracil and
tegafur (UFT) in addition to
intraperitoneal injection of
cisplatin as an outpatient. By the 223rd day after surgery, the
tumor mass and
ascites had completely disappeared according to the CT. Hence
chemotherapy was judged to have resulted
in complete remission. Such a marked response to
chemotherapy is rare in an advanced malignant peritoneal
mesothelioma such as the present case. Eight months later, the
tumor recurred in the pleura. Another regimen of
chemotherapy with
cisplatin and
CPT-11 was performed. However, this treatment proved ineffective. The patient subsequently died of
respiratory failure in January 1997 due to the
mesothelioma. This is a case report of complete remission of malignant peritoneal
mesothelioma by combined
chemotherapy.