Symptoms of Peritoneum Mets

When cancer spreads to the peritoneum (stomach lining) from other cancers, there are not always symptoms.  Patients in the early stages of the disease will often have few symptoms until the disease is advanced. When symptoms occur, they are often vague and nonspecific, with symptoms of:

  • abdominal pain
  • abdominal swelling
  • abnormal vaginal bleeding
  • an abdominal mass
  • bowel changes (more frequent constipation)
  • sense of fullness when eating
  • unintended weight loss.
  • urinary frequency

 

If peritoneal mets worsen, fluid may build up in the abdomen causing abdominal discomfort, nausea and vomiting, and shortness of breath. Fatigue is also common.

Complications of peritoneal metastases may include bowel obstructions (sometimes necessitating a stoma, or hole between the intestine and the outside of the body), and urinary tract obstruction (due to blockage of the ureters by tumors), sometimes requiring a stent or nephrostomy tube (a tube from the kidney to the outside of the body).