Malignant pleural effusions

Malignant pleural effusions are a serious complication of advanced cancer and are often associated with a poor prognosis. A quick diagnostic phase is therefore essential. Imaging techniques allow us to accurately establish the extent of the pleural effusion but not its nature. To define it, the cytological examination of the pleural fluid is important. However, this method determines a diagnostic prompt response only in 2/3 of cases; thus, histological examination through video-assisted pleural biopsiesis necessary. Malignant pleural effusions are often associated with respiratory symptoms, which require immediate treatment. Unfortunately, all approaches are only palliative but are still essential for maintaining the patient’s respiratory balance. Thoracentesisor pleural drainage are life-saving maneuvers but the target of treatment is an improvement of quality of life, implementing all the necessary skills in order to ensure respiratory stability as long as possible. The aim of this series is to identify the best strategies in order to reduce the discomfort of patient, minimizing the impact of the underlying disease on everyday life.

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Xiangya Medicine for the series “Malignant Pleural Effusion”. The article did not undergo external peer review.

Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jxym-20-121). The series “Malignant Pleural Effusion” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. DD serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Journal of Xiangya Medicine from Nov 2019 to Oct 2021. Both authors served as the unpaid Guest Editors of the series and have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of this work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of this work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Duilio Divisi, Prof, MD, PhD

Roberto Crisci, Prof, MD