腹膜转移是胃肠恶性肿瘤中一种常见的肿瘤细胞扩散形式。腹膜转移性疾病（PMD）与严重的发病率和抗目前采用的治疗方案有关。鉴于与远处器官转移相比的独特扩散途径以及腹腔独特的微环境，需要特定的肿瘤细胞特征才能发展PMD。在本综述中，我们概述PMD已知的组织病理学、基因组学和转录组特征。我们发现，代表间充质亚型的癌症在各种恶性肿瘤中与PMD强相关。此外，我们还讨论了转移癌细胞所在的腹膜生态位，包括腹膜免疫系统的关键作用。总之，我们表明PMD应被视为一个不同的疾病实体，需要定制的治疗策略。 ©2023年作者。根据CC BY 4.0许可证的条款发表。

Peritoneal metastases are a common form of tumor cell dissemination in gastrointestinal malignancies. Peritoneal metastatic disease (PMD) is associated with severe morbidity and resistance to currently employed therapies. Given the distinct route of dissemination compared with distant organ metastases, and the unique microenvironment of the peritoneal cavity, specific tumor cell characteristics are needed for the development of PMD. In this review, we provide an overview of the known histopathological, genomic, and transcriptomic features of PMD. We find that cancers representing the mesenchymal subtype are strongly associated with PMD in various malignancies. Furthermore, we discuss the peritoneal niche in which the metastatic cancer cells reside, including the critical role of the peritoneal immune system. Altogether, we show that PMD should be regarded as a distinct disease entity, that requires tailored treatment strategies.© 2023 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.