In this study, we measured pleural fluid and serum sialic acid levels in 70 consecutive
patients hospitalized with pleural effusions and serum sialic acid concentrations in 20
healthy individuals chosen as control group. The cause of 26 pleural effusions was
malignancy, and diseases other than malignant neoplasms were determined as the cause of
44 cases. Mean serum sialic acid levels in the patients with malignancies were higher than
the levels in patients with nonmalignant diseases and the control group. Mean sialic acid …