Prognostic factors and treatment outcomes in EGFR-mutated NSCLC with malignant pleural effusion: focus on intrathoracic chemotherapy and EGFR-TKI therapy

Despite our study failing to demonstrate superior efficacy or survival benefits of ICT combined with EGFR-TKIs compared to EGFR-TKI monotherapy, considering that international clinical guidelines recommend pleural drainage as a standard approach for managing MPE and the significant efficacy of third-generation EGFR-TKIs observed in our study for treating EGFR mutation-positive lung cancer patients with MPE, we speculate that the combination of third-generation EGFR-TKIs and pleural drainage may be a more rational treatment option for this patient population. Future studies are needed to further validate this hypothesis.