Nivolumab-induced peritonitis with peritoneal mesothelial hyperplasia mimicking metastatic mesothelioma

AJSP Rev Rep. 2022 May-Jun;27(3):98-102. doi: 10.1097/pcr.0000000000000503.

Abstract

A 57-year-old man developed a mesothelial proliferation in the peritoneum, several months after he was diagnosed with biopsy-proven epithelioid mesothelioma of the pleura and having undergone several treatments with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. The differential diagnosis was metastatic mesothelioma from the lung primary, versus a reactive process. A diagnosis of atypical mesothelial proliferation was made. Follow-up CT showed no evidence of abdominal disease 5 months later. The complication of serositis following checkpoint inhibitor therapy is reviewed, as well as the differential diagnosis between reactive mesothelial hyperplasia and epithelioid mesothelioma.