Use of radioactive gold in the treatment of pleural effusions caused by metastatic cancer.

This paper presents a series of 12 patients suffering from advanced gynecological cancer with the occurrence of pleural effusions. All patients received at least one intrapleural dose of radioactive gold (100 m Ci Au198) when the necessity for thoracentesis became more than once every three weeks. Three showed no recurrence of fluid, five a significant slowing down of effusion, and four did not show any response. Severe complications were minimal, and were comparable to those resulting from thoracentesis in general.