[A case of malignant mesothelioma of the pleura]

An operative case of malignant localized mesothelioma of the pleura, a 63-year-old male, came to our clinic with the chief complaint of hemosputa. On suspicion of lung tumor, right upper lobectomy and lymph node cleaning were performed. The tumor was embedded in the lung; there was no infiltration into the chest wall. After the operation, radiotherapy was added but tumor recurrence occurred in the 5th month, and the patient died 7 months after surgery. From the form of the recurrence it was considered a diffuse-type transition case. The prognosis of this disease is known to be poor, but since there have also been cases of long survival, cases of resection are studied in Japan. Based on macroscopic tumor findings, cases of occurrence in the visceral pleura have poor prognosis if embedded in the lung, while cases of occurrence in the parietal pleura have varied prognoses, but the differentiation line is yet unclear. Among six cases of diffuse-type transition, including this case, five cases were of the histological type which included the epithelial component. Further study of these cases is necessary in the near future.