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Pathological and molecular biological approaches to early mesothelioma

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Abstract

Malignant mesothelioma is an asbestos-related malignancy that arises primarily from mesothelial cells on the serosal surfaces of the pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial cavities. Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is most common, and its incidence is dramatically increasing worldwide as a result of widespread use of asbestos. Morphological discrimination between MPM and reactive mesothelial hyperplasia is difficult, and the most reliable pathological criterion for malignancy is mesothelial proliferation invading deeply into subpleural adipose tissues. To establish radical cure of MPM, it is crucial to find early-stage MPM of epithelial type, in which mesothelial proliferation is localized on the serosal surface of parietal pleura or limited within the submesothelial fibrous tissues of parietal pleura. The initial clinical presentation for patients with MPM is frequently dyspnea and/or chest pain due to large pleural effusion, and cytological analysis of pleural effusions is valuable to find patients with early-stage MPM of epithelial type. Recently, cytological features of MPM in pleural effusion, molecular markers for MPM, and genetic alternations of MPM have been reported. In this review, we discuss major issues on pathological and molecular biological approaches for diagnosis of early-stage MPM of epithelial type.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Toshiaki Kamei (Yamaguchi Grand Medical Center, Japan) and Dr. Kazuki Nabeshima (Fukuoka University School of Medicine and Hospital, Japan) for discussions.

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No author has any conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8501, Japan

    Tohru Tsujimura, Ikuko Torii, Ayuko Sato & Misa Song

  2. Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8501, Japan

    Kazuya Fukuoka & Takashi Nakano

  3. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8501, Japan

    Seiki Hasegawa

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  1. Tohru Tsujimura
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Correspondence to Tohru Tsujimura.

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Tsujimura, T., Torii, I., Sato, A. et al. Pathological and molecular biological approaches to early mesothelioma. Int J Clin Oncol 17, 40–47 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-011-0369-1

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