Mesotheliomas are rare cancers, accounting for less than 0.3% of all cancers in France. They are highly aggressive cancers that are resistant to many conventional treatments and have significant medical and social implications. This cancer, which is linked to asbestos exposure, occurs in men in 80% of cases. In the late 1990s, projections based on mortality modeling indicated that the increase in the incidence of pleural mesothelioma would continue for two to three decades. The diagnosis of mesotheliomas is based on histopathology, but the histological presentation exhibits highly varied and misleading features, which pose diagnostic challenges. It is against this diagnostic, clinical, epidemiological, and medico-social backdrop that a national and international, on mesothelioma was gradually established in France to address issues related to epidemiological surveillance and/or translational or more academic research, or to help structure healthcare services in response to Action 23.1 of the Cancer Plan starting in 2009, thereby ensuring better health-focused management of this disease. The structure of this multidisciplinary network and the results from its first 15 years of existence demonstrate its value and effectiveness in producing epidemiological surveillance indicators. The results from the pathologists’ network confirm the value of review through a standardized pathological certification procedure to ensure the quality of epidemiological data, the quality of medical-social recognition, and the reliability of clinical diagnosis for the benefit of patients. (R.A.)