title: Pleural effusion in lung cancer.
abstract: Pleural effusions are common in the setting of lung cancer. The clinician must establish whether the effusion is malignant, ruling out the possibility of curative surgery; paramalignant, which may or may not rule out surgery; or unassociated with the cancer. A pleural effusion associated with lung cancer is an ominous finding, but a small percentage of patients in this setting will be candidates for curative surgery. When a malignant pleural effusion is diagnosed by cytology or histology, the clinician must decide on the most appropriate form of palliative therapy for the symptomatic patient. In the symptomatic patient with a reasonable life expectancy, chest tube drainage with the instillation of tetracycline hydrochloride appears to be the most effective and least morbid form of palliative therapy.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008214:Lymphocytes; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000166:cytology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary