Abstract

PORCEL, José Manuel. Non-invasive diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion. Rev cubana med [online]. 2006, vol.45, n.2, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-302X.

The diagnosis of a malignant pleural effusion is usually established by demonstrating the presence of malignant cells in the pleural fluid. However, the sensitivity of pleural cytology to identify malignancy is just 60 %. Molecular methods such as telomerase activity or fluorescence in-situ hybridization, and imaging techniques as the positron emission tomography may be used to get a more accurate diagnosis in those cases of malignant pleural effusion with false negative cytology. This article summarizes the advances attained in the application of these procedures for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion.

Keywords : Pleural effusion; cancer; tumor marker; telomerase; positron emission tomography.