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Fluid collecting in the space between the lung and the chest wall because cancer has reached the lining. It makes people breathless, it comes back after it is drained, and the decision is not whether to drain it but how to stop it returning.
Cancer on the pleural surface leaks fluid into the pleural space faster than the lymphatics can clear it; lung cancer, breast cancer and mesothelioma are the commonest causes. Fluid in that space is also an M1a descriptor in the TNM classification, so its presence usually places a lung cancer at stage IV whatever the size of the primary. Symptomatically it causes breathlessness, a dry cough and sometimes chest discomfort, and the fluid can be removed in minutes at the bedside with lasting relief. The problem is recurrence. NICE NG122 asks teams to perform pleural aspiration or drainage to relieve symptoms, and to offer talc pleurodesis to people who would get long-term benefit from repeated drainage: talc is instilled to stick the two pleural layers together so that no space is left for fluid to collect. An indwelling pleural catheter, drained at home, is the alternative where the lung will not re-expand or where a person prefers to avoid admission. The choice turns on how trapped the lung is, how long the person is expected to live and how much time in hospital the treatment costs them.
Central tumours arise in the large airways, peripheral ones in the alveoli; both drain to hilar then mediastinal nodes, and the pleural lining is a separate cancer site.
Same organ: Mediastinal germ cell tumour, Pleuropulmonary blastoma (types I, Ir, II and III), Type A and type AB thymoma, Type B1 and type B2 thymoma, Type B3 thymoma, Micronodular thymoma with lymphoid stroma, Adenocarcinoma of the lung, Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, Large cell carcinoma of the lung, Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung, Adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung, Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung, Adenocarcinoma in situ and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma of the lung, Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, Lymphoepithelial carcinoma of the lung, Pulmonary blastoma (adult), Non-small-cell lung cancer, Small-cell lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Pleural mesothelioma, Thymoma and thymic carcinoma, Childhood lung and airway tumours (pleuropulmonary blastoma, tracheobronchial tumours), Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT), EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer, ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, KRAS G12C-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer, ROS1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, MET exon 14 and MET-amplified non-small-cell lung cancer, RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, BRAF V600E-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer, HER2-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer, NTRK fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, PD-L1-high non-small-cell lung cancer without a driver mutation, Resectable stage I to III non-small-cell lung cancer, Unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer, Limited-stage small-cell lung cancer, Extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, Lung neuroendocrine tumours (typical and atypical carcinoid), Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung, Thymoma (WHO types A, AB, B1, B2 and B3), Thymic carcinoma
Showing the organ this term concerns: Lung cancer (all types).
Shares Pleura, Pleural mesothelioma, Mesothelioma, Lung cancer (all types) and the tag lung.
Shares TNM 9: what changed in lung cancer staging, Performance status (ECOG, Karnofsky), Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Performance status (ECOG, Karnofsky), Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares TNM 9: what changed in lung cancer staging, Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares Mesothelioma, Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares TNM 9: what changed in lung cancer staging, Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares TNM 9: what changed in lung cancer staging, Lung cancer (all types), Small-cell lung cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.
Shares TNM 9: what changed in lung cancer staging, Lung cancer (all types), Non-small-cell lung cancer and the tag lung.