Corynebacterium parvum in malignant pleural effusion. A randomized prospective study

In a randomized trial, pleurodesis was attempted with Corynebacterium parvum in one group and bleomycin in another. Patients with malignant pleural effusion which required repeated drainage were treated with instillation of one of these agents after complete drainage of the pleural effusion. There were 32 patients who could be evaluated. Sixty-five per cent of the patients treated with C. parvum had no recurrence after one treatment and another 29% after two treatments. In the bleomycin group, two patients needed only one treatment while the remainder - 13 out of 15 patients - needed further drainage treatments even after two instillations of the drug. The difference was highly significant (p less than 0.001).