Panel discussion on pleural malignancies

There have been a number of high quality trials in malignant pleural effusion, its management and the qualitative aspects of that management. These have been condensed in various guidelines, which will be presented, as well as the research gaps and novel directions for the future.

Educational aims

• The speakers will describe the use of cytology and biopsy for investigation of malignant pleural effusion, and will make the case for early biopsy in various cancers and will expand on mesothelioma. This will be widely applicable.
• Traditional teaching also suggests that asymptomatic pleural effusions should not be drained, but there is novel evidence that fluid might well promote growth of tumour-this will be explored in detail and future directions will be discussed.
• The management of malignant pleural effusion is increasingly done via indwelling pleural catheters- various methods can be used and there have been some very high quality trials regarding their use which is ever increasing. This talk will summarize those, but also concentrate on recent qualitative evidence that IPCs might not be what patients want, and quote the recent OPTIMUM trials as well.

Topics

• The case for early biopsy and avoiding initial cytology – Dinesh Addala
• Biology and growth potential of pleural fluid – Rachelle Asciak
• Optimal use of IPC, highlighting some of the qualitative data around IPCs recently published? – Rachel Mercer

Target audience:

• Clinicians
• Trainees
• Surgeons

Format

This webinar will include three lectures, followed by a final round table discussion.

Learning outcomes

After following this webinar, participants should be able to:

• Understand why early biopsy and a direct to biopsy is important for malignant pleural effusion
• Understand why indwelling pleural catheters have gained in popularity but the decision to insert one should be patient centred
• Understand why draining even small malignant pleural effusions might need to be drained

CME credit

An application for accreditation of this webinar has been made to the European Board for Accreditation in Pneumology (EBAP) for 1 CME credit per 1-hour attendance. If accredited, the CME credit will be granted upon attendance of at least 60 minutes during the live webinar only.

What is a webinar?

A webinar closely simulates a lecture-based teaching experience. The speaker can interact with the audience, just as in a classroom setting. During the webinar, you will be asked to share your opinion on issues related to the topic using interactive polls.

All participants will be able to hear the lecturer and see the slides throughout the presentation. As a participant you will be able to pose questions or discuss ideas with the other participants via the text chat facility and the speaker will respond to the questions via the microphone.

Login guidelines

More information will be communicated in due course.

• Please log in to the webinar 20 minutes before it is scheduled to commence. If you have any technical difficulties whilst trying to log in or during the session please contact e-learning@ersnet.org.
• Check Central European Time.
• To achieve the best quality, we recommend to avoid downloading anything from the internet during your connection to the lecture and stopping all other programmes.
• Please also ensure that your audio settings are not set to mute and adjust the volume to a comfortable level.