Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The relationships between inflammation, airflow obstruction, and lung cancer are complex. Deregulated inflammation is complicit in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, but the overlap of signaling events is not yet fully understood. Tobacco exposure is an important risk factor that confers long-term risk of lung disease. Diagnostic sensitivity of detecting lung cancer may improve with the utilization of genetic profiling in combination with pathologic evaluation of airway epithelium. Additional research is required to understand the role of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in chronic inflammatory lung diseases and lung carcinogenesis.
Lee et al. (Mon,) studied this question.