Abstract: Objective To summarize the method and effective result of thoracoscopic intrapleural perfusion hyperthermochemotherapy(TIPHC) for treating malignant pleural effusion caused by lung cancer. Methods Fiftyeight patients with malignant pleural effusion caused by lung cancer were randomly divided into therapeutic group(30 cases) and control group(28 cases) between February 1999 and March 2005. Pleural biopsy and TIPHC under general ansthesia with unilateral ventilation were performed in the therapeutic group, and intrapleural injection of cisplatin was administered in control group after drainage of pleural effusion. The effect on malignant pleural effusion， the change for the concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA)， cytokeratin-19 fragments (CYFRA21-1)， neuronspecific enolase (NSE) and the side effect were compared before and after the treatment. Results The therapeutic group achieved total response rate of 100.0%, but only 53.6% in control group, with significant difference(χ 2=3.863, Plt;0.05). Furthermore, the concentration of CEA， CYFRA21-1， NSE in therapeutic group dramatically descended than control group(t=2.562,Plt;0.05). But there was no significant difference in side effect (Pgt;0.05). The pathological diagnosis of all the patients were determined in the therapeutic group. Conclusion TIPHC has the advantage of both diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural effusions. It is safe and effective, and also able to determine the diagnosis. Furthermore, it offers the superiority of small wound， best visualization and convenient pleural biopsy.