Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Table 1 Clinical characteristics of patients Patients with pleural effusion Pulmonary carcinoma (n = 110) Pneumonia (n = 13) Tuberculosis (n = 42) Heart failure/hypoproteinemia(n = 38) Extrapulmonary carcinoma (n = 6) Malignant (n = 106) Nonmalignant (n = 4) Age ( ± S) 63.35 ± 9.35 61.25 ± 6.29 46.23 ± 11.56 43.38 ± 13.88 64.78 ± 8.53 51.17 ± 9.13 Sex (M/F) 55/51

2/2 7/6 20/22 20/18 2/4 Cast-off (N/P) 38/68 4/0 13/0 42/0 38/0 3/3 Pleural biopsy (n) 49 4 — 8 — 3 TNM stage             I — 3 — — — 1 II — 1 — — — 1 III — — — — — — IV 106 — —   — 4 Pathological type               SCC 26 — — — — Hepatoma 2   Ade 71 — — — — ovarian cancer 1   SCLC 9 — — — — pleural endotheliomas 1       — — — breast cancer 2 Pleural effusion ( ± S)             PH 7.42 ± 0.05 7.45 ± 0.02 7.18 ± 0.04 7.36 ± 0.04 7.45 ± 0.05 7.48 ± 0.03 LDH 665.48 ± 226.18 203.25 TGF-beta inhibitor ± 57.64 363.46 ± 64.7 384.93 ± 93.44 135.79 ± 32.38 575.5 ± 152.28 Glu 4.52 ± 0.81 4.87 ± 0.3 4.78 ± 0.53 4.7 ± 0.58 4.74 ± 0.36 4.46 ± 0.77 Alb 46.59 ± 4.84 24.11 ± 1.57 42.47 ± 5.05 47.57 ± 4.59 22.15 ± 2.28 47.93 ± 4.63 Extrapulmonary carcinoma: including breast cancer, pleural endotheliomas, and lymphadenoma; N/P negative/positive, SCC squamous cell carcinoma, Ade adenocarcinoma, SCLC small cell lung cancer, PH power of hydrogen, LDH lactate dehydrogenase, Glu glucose, Alb albumin —: no data. Table 2 Clinical characteristics

and therapeutic effects in patients with MPE selleck chemicals caused by pulmonary carcinoma Group CR PR NC PD Case number 12 48 10 12 Age ( ± S) 61.16 ± 8.87 63.5 ± 9.85 63.7 ± 6.36 66.92 ± 10.92 Sex (M/F) 8/4 23/25 6/4 3/9 Pathological type         SCC 3 10 8 3 Ade 8 35 1 9 SCLC 1 3 1 0 CR complete remission, PR partial remission, NC no change, PD progressive disease, SCC squamous cell carcinoma, Ade adenocarcinoma, SCLC small cell lung cancer. Bronchoscopy Patients with pleural effusions who showed a lump in pulmonary computed tomography

(CT) underwent bronchoscope detection. They received topical anesthesia with 5 ml of 2% lidocaine inhaled for 10–15 minutes and 2 ml of 2% lidocaine dropped in each nostril. The bronchoscope was inserted nasally with the patients in the supine position. During the procedure, endobronchial VAV2 or transbronchial biopsy specimens were collected for histopathology. Their specimens were sent to the department of pathology for pathology detection by a trained specialist. Detection of cast-off cells from pleural effusions All patients underwent thoracentesis during hospitalization, and 300–500 ml of pleural effusion was inspired from the indicated patients. Then the effusion was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 8 min to pellet cells. The supernatant of the effusion was removed, and the pellet of pleural effusion cells was resuspended. Each sample was smeared onto 6–8 glass slides, and fixed. Following hematoxylin-eosin staining, the cell types were observed using a microscope.