[Asbestos carcinogenesis from clinical and hypothetical viewpoints]

On the basis of a case of mesothelioma of the pleura in a 28-year-old female who among our patients had the longest survival time after establishment of the diagnosis (31 months) the authors adopt a definite attitude to the problems of asbestosis. It can be regarded as ascertained that after asbest exposition a systemic contamination of the organism occurs. Apart from the inhalative intake further possibilities of the asbest fibre incorporation and the elimination are referred to. As to the cancerogenesis of asbest-induced malignomas the existing theories appear at present still insufficient; analogies to Virchow's irritation theory are possible in the serosa tumours.