An ultrastructural comparison of mesotheliomas and adenocarcinomas of the ovary and endometrium.

The ultrastructural features of 16 malignant mesotheliomas were compared qualitatively and quantitatively with nine ovarian adenocarcinomas and 11 endometrial adenocarcinomas. The mesotheliomas could be distinguished ultrastructurally by their significantly greater content of tonofilaments (p less than 0.001) and their lack of structures found in both ovarian and endometrial adenocarcinomas, specifically abundant mucin, numerous cilia, and dense core granules of the neurosecretory type.