my wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 9 years and has been on various chemos the entire time.She recently deveoped pleurel effusion and had the fluid taken out.The results showed cancerous cells consistant with the ovarian cancer in the fluid.what does this mean as far as her treatment goes and is this the begining of the end stage?
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. Presence of malignant cells in pleural effusion means your wife is having Malignant Pleural Effusion. This is because of spread of ovarian cancer in the pleura. It is commonly seen in ovarian cancer. Malignant spread of pleura most commonly present as effusion and rarely as tumor mass and nodule. So this makes your wife stage 4 cancer patient. And despite various chemotherapy if she develops malignant pleural effusion means she is going towards end stage disease. Put pigtail catheter for removal of fluid. This gives her symptomatic relief. So consult pulmonologist for treatment options.