Pavlisko EN, et al. - From a database of 2,858 histologically confirmed malignant diffuse mesothelioma (MM) cases, 354 cases of MM in women were reviewed. Pleural predominance was observed in these MM; 78% pleural MM and 22% peritoneal MM. Among the pleural tumors, 72% were epithelioid, 19% biphasic, and 9% sarcomatoid variant. Among the peritoneal tumors, 82% were epithelioid, 13% biphasic, and 5% sarcomatoid. A trend toward epithelioid subtype and the peritoneal location was observed when examining tumor subtype and location; however, this did not reach statistical significance. Patients' age ranged from 19 to 93 years at the time of diagnosis; the mean age was 60 years. For pleural MM, the median age was 65 years at the time of diagnosis and for peritoneal MM was 52 years. Epithelioid variant exhibited the greatest survival, and this was magnified in the peritoneum. Exposure to asbestos was reported in a majority of these cases through household contact. They identified presence of asbestosis and parietal pleural plaque in 5% and 50% of cases with data, respectively. Sixty-seven cases had fiber analysis data available; of these, 38 cases had raised asbestos fiber burden, and tremolite was identified to be the most common asbestos fiber type detected. Nearly equal numbers of cases showed elevated commercial and noncommercial amphibole asbestos fibers.