Genomics of peritoneal surface malignancies

Peritoneal malignancies and metastasis are traditionally approached as a terminal disease, however with multiple lines of clinical therapy; long-term survival can be achieved in selected patients using aggressive cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. This is especially true for Pseudomyxoma peritonei from appendiceal neoplasms, peritoneal mesothelioma and peritoneal metastasis from colorectal cancer. In this article, we discuss the nature of genomic alterations in these three peritoneal malignancies and their potential as prognostic and therapeutic markers in clinical decisions. Genomic characterization of malignancies using technological advances including what is now widely used and accepted next-generation genomic sequencing methods has identified genomic anomalies (i.e. mutations, epigenetic modifications, transcription and expression changes in RNA) which is used for targeted therapy, prognostication, surveillance and prediction of response to therapy.