[The problems of early diagnosis of diffuse malignant mesothelioma from the pathologo-anatomic view]

An account is given in this paper of particular problems associated with early detection of mesotheliomatous alterations and differential diagnosis for their distinction from reactive mesothelial cell proliferations. Reference is made, in that context, to pathologico-anatomic experience obtained from postmortem and biopsy samples of human malignant mesotheliomas and animal experiments, following exposure to various asbestos-containing dusts. Diagnoses, such as "premesotheliomatous alteration" or "early mesothelioma", in other words, differentiation between benign and malignant, consequently, appear to be unjustified.