Malignant pleural effusion in lung cancer: focus on treatment—through a review of literature

Abstract

: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is frequently associated with lung cancer and often the treatment is palliative. However, in some cases, an improvement in survival is possible. We evaluated the therapeutic options of MPE patients in lung cancer through a review of the literature. We have seen how, in addition to palliative treatments, surgery improves survival in selected cases. In patients destined for medical treatment, we noticed that the biomolecular characteristics and receptor structures are fundamental to achieve targeted and personalized therapy. It is now possible an effective treatment for the patients in which palliative cares were the only therapeutic possibility until a few years ago.