Pleural effusion as a substitute for tumor tissue in detecting EGFR/ALK mutations in non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AbstractBackground:Pleural effusion (PE) has been reported useful in many studies for testing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with variable results. This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to elucidate whether PE could be used as