Objective To explore the methods of thoracoscopic intrapleural perfusion hyperthermic chemotherapy(TIPHC)on diagnosing and treating malignant pleural effusion caused by lung cancer,as well as its effect.Methods From February 1999 to March 2006,seventy patients with malignant pleural effusion caused by lung cancer were randomly divided into therapeutic group(35 cases)and control group(35 cases).Pleural biopsy and TIPHC under general anesthesia with unilateral ventilation were performed in the therapeutic group,and intrapleural injection of cisplatin was administered in the control group after drainage of pleural effusion.The effect on malignant pleural effusion,the change for the concentration of carcino-embryonic antigen(CEA),cytokeratin-19 fragments(CYFRA21-1),neuron-specific enolase(NSE)and the side effect were compared before and after the treatment.Results The therapeutic group achieved total response rate of 100%,but only 54.3% in the control group,with significant difference(P