Histological morphology alone is not sufficient for the pathological diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. Positive and negative immunohistochemical markers are necessary to differentiate it from lung adenocarcinoma. As calretinin and D2-40, the recognized positive markers of mesothelioma, are expressed in lung adenocarcinoma to some extent, novel markers with high specificity are desirable. In this study, we investigated the applicability of glypican-1 immunohistochemistry to differentiate epithelioid mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma. We investigated 82 cases of epithelioid mesothelioma and 97 cases of lung adenocarcinoma for glypican-1 expression by immunohistochemistry using a commercially available antibody. All 82 cases of epithelioid mesothelioma showed glypican-1 expression, most with diffuse and strong reactivity. In contrast, only three cases of lung adenocarcinoma showed focal glypican-1 expression. Glypican-1 expression showed 100 sensitivity, 97% specificity, and a 98% accuracy rate to differentiate epithelioid mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma. The sensitivity of glypican -1 immunohistochemistry is as high as that of calretinin and D2-40, and its specificity is far better than that of calretinin and D2-40. Therefore, we recommend including glypican -1 immunohistochemistry as a positive marker of epithelioid mesothelioma.Modern Pathology advance online publication, 12 January 2018; doi:10.1038/modpathol.2017.190.