Human Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) Biomarker

We assessed genome-wide expression patterns in lung tissue specimens derived from 56 subjects. These subjects were undergoing lobectomy for removal of a suspected tumor, and tissue for our studies was derived from histologically normal tissue distant from the tumor margin. Subjects underwent routine spirometry prior to surgery. Low values for both FEV1 and FEV1/FVC are characteristic features of COPD and associated with the severity of disease. For our studies, Cases (n=15) were defined as subjects with FEV1<70% and FEV1/FVC<0.7 and Controls (n=18) as subjects with FEV1>80% and FEV1/FVC>0.7. A majority of the subjects were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (n=26) or squamous cell carcinoma (n=19), while other tumor types or benign lesions were found in the remaining subjects (n=11).