The impact on survival of positive intraoperative pleural lavage cytology in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

Pre-pleural lavage cytology is of less use in clinical practice. Post-pleural lavage cytology was a very strong independent prognostic factor, and almost all patients with positive post-pleural lavage cytology relapsed within 5 years. We propose that positive post-pleural lavage cytology disease should be classified to pathologic T4 and managed similarly to dissemination.