[The specific features of pleural effusions in hemoblastosis].

Pleural fluid (PF) was studied in 18 patients with lymph proliferative diseases and in 12 patients with tumor pleurisy (ovarian cancer metastases, undifferentiated squamous-cell carcinoma of the main bronchus). Along with the conventional tests adopted for the laboratory diagnosis of PF, the levels of acute-phase proteins (C-reactive protein (CRP), immunoglobulins, ceruloplasmin, and albumin) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were measured. The conducted analysis revealed no specific signs for exudative fluid in hemoblastoses or pleural cancer, except for an increase in the CRP/TNF-alpha ratio.