Type of cancer causing MPE and method of diagnosis
| Type of cancer | Confirmed MPE | Presumed MPE | Total | Confirmed versus presumed significance | ||
| Malignant cytology | Malignant pleural biopsy | Histological malignancy elsewhere | Clinical diagnosis | |||
| Breast | 49 (84.5%) | 5 (8.6%) | 2 (3.4%) | 2 (3.4%) | 58 | p<0.001 |
| NSCLC | 44 (55.7%) | 11 (13.9%) | 18 (22.8%) | 6 (7.6%) | 79 | p=0.78 |
| SCLC | 4 (80%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (20%) | 0 (0%) | 5 | p=0.65 |
| Mesothelioma | 3 (6.3%) | 42 (87.5%) | 1 (2.1%) | 2 (4.2%) | 48 | p<0.001 |
| Gynaecological | 21 (75.0%) | 0 (0%) | 7 (25.0%) | 0 (0%) | 28 | p=0.67 |
| CUP | 7 (41.2%) | 2 (11.8%) | 6 (35.3%) | 2 (11.8%) | 17 | p=0.11 |
| Lower GI | 6 (37.5%) | 0 (0%) | 9 (56.3%) | 1 (6.3) | 16 | p=0.008 |
| Upper GI | 5 (50.0%) | 2 (20.0%) | 3 (30.0%) | 0 (0%) | 10 | p=1.00 |
| Lymphoma | 6 (37.5%) | 3 (18.8%) | 7 (43.8%) | 0 (0%) | 16 | p=0.26 |
| Melanoma | 5 (83.3%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (16.7%) | 0 (0%) | 6 | p=0.68 |
| Pancreatic | 2 (40.0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (60.0%) | 5 | p=0.15 |
| Urological | 4 (40.0%) | 1 (10.0%) | 5 (50.0%) | 0 (0%) | 10 | p=0.16 |
| Head and neck | 0 (0%) | 1 (20.0%) | 4 (80.0%) | 0 (0%) | 5 | p=0.03 |
| Sarcoma | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 6 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 6 | p<0.001 |
| Other | 6 (54.5%) | 1 (9.1%) | 4 (36.4%) | 0 (0%) | 11 | p=0.74 |
| Unclear | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (40.0%) | 3 (60.0%) | 5 | p=0.002 |
| Total | 162 (49.8%) | 68 (20.9%) | 76 (23.4%) | 19 (5.8%) | 325 | |
Fishers exact test used for all calculations.
CUP, cancer of unknown primary; GI, gastrointestinal; MPE, malignant pleural effusion; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer; SCLC, small cell lung cancer.