Impact of pleural effusion in ovarian cancer: A retrospective study in Lleida, Spain.
e17534 Background: The presence of pleural effusion in the evolution of patients with ovarian cancer is not uncommon. In one series of 123 patients, malignant pleural effusion at the diagnoses was observed in 29%, and 70% during the course of the disease. Methods: This observational, retrospective study included patients with ovarian cancer and pleural effusion between July 2007 and December 2019 in Lleida, province of Catalonia, Spain. Data were collected from electronic medical reports. This study analyzed the clinical features of ovarian cancer patients with pleural effusion and its impact on their survival. Results: Data from 189 patients with ovarian cancer were collected. The median age was 63 years old. Pleural effusion was observed in 81 patients, 55 at the diagnosis and 26 in the disease evolution. Fifty five percent were confirmed as malignant etiology. Most of the patients were diagnosed with an advanced stage (38.3% stage IIIC, 12.3% stage IVA, 40.7% stage IVB), and 74.1% were high-grade serous carcinoma. When the pleural effusion was observed at the diagnosis, the median overall survival was 20.8 vs 69.3 months in the absence of it (p < 0.001). When the pleural effusion was observed at any time of the disease, the median overall survival was 26.7 vs 90.4 months without it (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In this study, patients with ovarian cancer and pleural effusion, at diagnosis or in the course of the disease, experienced reduced survival compared with the absence of it.