This case involves a 76-year-old male patient with a history of asbestos exposure at construction sites. During follow-up for pleural plaques and pleural effusion, the pleural effusion and a thoracoscopic examination resulted in a diagnosis of malignant lymphoma (ML) confined to the pleural effusion/pleura and without mass formation. Of the malignant lymphomas, primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a disease that proliferates only in fluid-filled body cavities; however, cases that resemble PEL with no immunodeficiency and that test negative for human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) have come to be interpreted as PEL-like lymphoma (PEL-LL). The patient in this case had diffuse large B-cell malignant lymphoma confined to the pleural effusion/pleura and was negative for HHV-8; he was therefore diagnosed with PEL-LL. Chronic pleuritis resulting from asbestos may have influenced an onset of ML in this case.