Comment from the authors: the tests combination in patients with lung cancer and malignant pleural effusion

Diagnostic yield of pleural thoracentesis in case of suspected malignant pleural effusion (MPE) varies according to the histological type of the primary tumor (1,2), to the local extent of the disease (involvement of both visceral and parietal pleura) (3) and of course to the expertise (4). In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and MPE, the evidence of malignant cells in the pleura is critical as their presence directly means that the patient presents with metastatic disease, and therefore he will be treated accordingly despite the fact that there is no evidence of other metastatic sites (5)