Some reports have described pleural lavage cytology (PLC) to be a prognostic factor for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, there have only been a few reports describing the findings both immediately after thoracotomy (PLC after thoracotomy) and before the closure of the chest (PLC before closure). From April 2002 to April 2008, both PLC after thoracotomy and PLC before closure were performed in 296 consecutive patients who underwent resections for NSCLC. PLC after thoracotomy

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... was positive in 14 patients. The survival rate in the PLC after thoracotomy positive cases was significantly poorer than in PLC after thoracotomy negative cases (Ps0.047). In contrast, there were 26 PLC before closure positive cases. The survival rate in the PLC before closure positive cases was significantly poorer than in the PLC before closure negative cases (P-0.0001). Multivariate analyses revealed that PLC after thoracotomy is not an independent prognostic factor in our study. However, PLC before closure was an independent prognostic factor based on multivariate analyses. We conclude that PLC before closure was found to be a better prognostic factor than PLC after thoracotomy for NSCLC patients.