What Is The Omentum?

Transcript

Some people may ask what the omentum is. It’s a sheet of fat within the abdominal cavity or the peritoneum that’s actually a protector of the abdominal compartment. And sometimes when you have a perforated cancer or a cancer that is extending beyond the colon, the omentum may try to cover this area up and potentially the tumor may spread to the omentum. In this case, we may need to remove the omentum with a surgery we perform. And at that point would be a T4 lesion depending on exactly how extensive the T stage or the tumor is behaving.

With regards to disease within the peritoneal cavity or the omentum, it’s very tough to treat with chemotherapy as the blood supply is not as profuse as the other organs. So when tumors have spread beyond your colon and into the omentum or the peritoneal cavity, you may need to be seen by a certain surgeon who feels comfortable removing your peritenoneum and / or omentum, and sometimes even instilling chemotherapy within your abdominal cavity, which is called Hipec surgery.

The peritoneum is the lining of the abdominal cavity or the cavity that contains your stomach and your liver and your colon. And sometimes the tumor can spread. And when it does, this is a potential space and the tumor can spread throughout this layer of the body.

Key Takeaways

1. The omentum is a sheet of fat within the abdominal cavity or the peritoneum that acts as a protector of the abdominal compartment.

2. Sometimes when you have a perforated cancer (extending beyond the colon), the tumor may spread to the omentum.

3. In this case, we may need to remove the omentum with surgery.

4. When tumors have spread beyond the colon into the omentum or peritoneal cavity, you may need chemotherapy within your abdominal cavity, which is called Hipec surgery.

5. The peritoneum is the lining of the abdominal cavity and sometimes the tumor can spread throughout this layer of the body.