Presence of asbestos in peritoneal malignant mesotheliomas in women

Asbestos plays a causal role in pleural mesotheliomas. The role in peritone al mesotheliomas is less clear, particularly in women, who are less likely to have an exposure history. Seven peritoneal malignant mesotheliomas in wo men with no recorded asbestos exposure were analyzed in this report. Tissue digestion was performed on paraffin blocks of tumor. Transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and electron diffraction were performed for tissue fiber burden and fiber identification. Asbestos fiber burdens were present in 6 cases. Two showed crocidolite, 2 showed chrysotil e, one showed chrysotile and amosite, and one showed chrysotile and tremoli te. Fiber burdens ranged from 56,738 to 1,963,250 fibers per gram wet weigh t tissue. All fibers counted were between 1 and 5 microns. This study demon strates asbestos in peritoneal mesotheliomas in women. Asbestos may play a role in the development of these tumors.