# Pleura

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/pleura/  
OnCo record `pleura` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The two-layered lining around each lung. Mesothelioma grows from it, lung and breast cancers spread to it, and fluid collecting between its layers causes breathlessness.

## Summary

The visceral pleura covers the lung and the parietal pleura lines the chest wall; the potential space between them fills with a malignant pleural effusion in advanced lung, breast and ovarian cancers and lymphoma. Malignant pleural mesothelioma, almost always from asbestos, spreads along the pleural surface; its surgery ranges from extrapleural pneumonectomy (abandoned after MARS 1) to pleurectomy/decortication (questioned by MARS 2). Pleural invasion also upstages lung cancer.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: pleural; pleural cavity; pleural space; extrapleural; pleurectomy; pleurectomy/decortication; pleural metastases

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_pleurae
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_pleurae

## Connected records

- terms: [Asbestos](https://onco.cc/terms/asbestos/), [Malignant pleural effusion](https://onco.cc/terms/malignant-pleural-effusion/), [Malignant pleural effusion and ascites](https://onco.cc/terms/pleural-effusion/), [Pleurodesis and indwelling pleural catheter](https://onco.cc/terms/pleurodesis/), [Pneumonectomy](https://onco.cc/terms/pneumonectomy/)
- cancers: [Mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/mesothelioma/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/)
- fronts: [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- trials: [MARS 2](https://onco.cc/trials/mars-2/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/pleura.json