Local treatment of neoplastic pleural effusions

Efficacy of local treatment of neoplastic pleural effusions may be related to the administered drugs, as judged by our series of 225 patients. The evaluation of the local improvement--which did not interfere with the evolution of the primary cancer--showed good (45.9%) or satisfactory (48.6%) results in a series of 148 patients treated with peptichemio. This local improvement was practically devoid of any adverse side-effect even when the treatment was particularly prolonged. This survey deals with 15 years of therapeutical experience concerned with neoplastic pleural effusions from malignant epithelial tumours.