[Immunological assay of the CA-125 value in pleural effusion in various types of pleuritis--its application as a differential diagnostic parameter of tuberculous or carcinomatous pleuritis].

We measured the CA-125 value in the peripheral blood and pleural effusion of 85 patients with various types of pleural effusion using an immunoradiometric assay with a monoclonal antibody (CA-125 radioimmunoassay kit). In pleuritis with primary lung cancer, the positive rate of the CA-125 value in the peripheral blood was 53.6%. The CA-125 value in tuberculous pleural effusion was significantly lower than that in carcinomatous pleural effusion (p less than 0.02). Accordingly, this assay of CA-125 in the pleural effusion is useful in the differential diagnosis of whether the pleural effusion is tuberculous or carcinomatous.