Multi-omics Combined Detection Panel MTPC: Advancing Pleural Effusion Diagnosis

This study hypothesized integrating PTGER4/SHOX2 methylation, CEA/CYFRA21-1, DNA ploidy, and cytology into the MTPC multi-omics panel to improve pleural effusion diagnosis. It retrospectively collected 369 patients (264 malignant, 105 benign) from Oct 2022-Nov 2024, using biopsy/cytology as the gold standard. Key findings: CEA had 98.1% specificity, CYFRA21-1 56.8% sensitivity; combined PTGER4+SHOX2 had 65.9% sensitivity, 92.4% specificity; MTPC performed best (AUC=0.8698, 90.2% sensitivity, 83.8% specificity), cutting "cytology undetermined" by 78.4% and missed "negative" diagnoses by 92.3%. Data show MTPC resolves single-method limitations, aiding accurate benign/malignant differentiation for timely treatment.