Pleural lavage cytology immediately after thoracotomy and before closure of the thoracic cavity for lung cancer without pleural effusion and dissemination: clinicopathologic and prognostic analysis.

BACKGROUND

The significance of intraoperative pleural lavage cytology (PLC) in lung cancer patients without malignant effusion remains undetermined in terms of staging, prognosis, and local management.

METHODS

PLC was performed both after thoractomy and before closure of the thoracic cavity in 325 patients with lung cancer without malignant pleurisy.

RESULTS

According to the PLC results (positive [+] or negative [-] after thoracotomy/before closure), the patients were classified as follows: group A (-/-), 262 patients; group B (+/-), 19; group C (-/+), 22; and group D (+/+), 22. In comparison with group A, group C showed more advanced stage with aggressive nodal involvement, and group D showed more advanced lung cancer related to pleural and nodal involvement, whereas group B showed characteristics similar to those of group A. The rate of pleural recurrence in group D was the highest (26%). In particular, pleural recurrence was seen in the patients with a relatively large number of adenocarcinoma cells in PLC after thoractomy. The patients in groups C and D, especially those with adenocarcinoma, showed poorer prognosis, but in a multivariate analysis, PLC status was not an independent prognostic factor.

CONCLUSIONS

PLC status after thoractomy provides useful information in the detection of high-risk subgroup for pleural recurrence. Although PLC status is closely associated with survival, its prognostic value is not independent.