Prognostic Value and Therapeutic Implications of Pleural Carcinosis and Malignant Pleural Effusion in Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

AIM To demonstrate the prognostic value of pleural carcinosis/effusion in a cohort of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and the associated therapeutic implications. PATIENTS AND METHODS Overall, data for 388 patients with EOC with confirmed malignant pleural effusion (MPE) or pleural carcinosis were retrospectively analyzed. Exclusion criteria were non-epithelial ovarian malignancies and presence of other comorbidities associated with pleural effusions. RESULTS The prognosis after the occurrence of MPE during the EOC in relapsed cases was poor with an overall survival of 9.9 months. In the multivariate analysis, the time point of the manifestation of the pleural effusion (p