Abstract
Background:
Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) occurs in up to 20% of malignancies, most commonly from a breast or pulmonary primary. It confers a poor prognosis, with a median survival of less than a year, and the mainstay in treatment has previously been achieving pleurodesis.
Aims and methods:
This review provides an overview of the most up to date literature for the treatment of MPE using a PubMed search, with a focus on patient-centred care.
Results:
There is increased focus on outpatient management and control of symptoms for patients with MPE, allowing more in-depth conversations to be had over what individual patient goals are. The development of new approaches such as indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) and local anaesthetic thoracoscopy (LAT) also increase the options available. When managing the complexities of MPE, such as non-expansile lung and septated effusions, various approaches can be taken to treat them including fibrinolytics and IPC.
Discussion:
The treatment of MPE has changed in the last 15 years to focus on outpatient management and symptom control. Careful discussions must be undertaken on a patient-by-patient basis.
Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) occurs in up to 20% of malignancies, most commonly from a breast or pulmonary primary. It confers a poor prognosis, with a median survival of less than a year, and the mainstay in treatment has previously been achieving pleurodesis.
Aims and methods:
This review provides an overview of the most up to date literature for the treatment of MPE using a PubMed search, with a focus on patient-centred care.
Results:
There is increased focus on outpatient management and control of symptoms for patients with MPE, allowing more in-depth conversations to be had over what individual patient goals are. The development of new approaches such as indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) and local anaesthetic thoracoscopy (LAT) also increase the options available. When managing the complexities of MPE, such as non-expansile lung and septated effusions, various approaches can be taken to treat them including fibrinolytics and IPC.
Discussion:
The treatment of MPE has changed in the last 15 years to focus on outpatient management and symptom control. Careful discussions must be undertaken on a patient-by-patient basis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2580788 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | European clinical respiratory journal |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- indwelling pleural catheter
- intercostal drain
- Malignant pleural effusion
- non-expansile lung
- patient focus
- pleurodesis
- septated effusion