Lung Cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease:The Story Goes On

In 1978, Bernice Cohen ( 1 ), discussing her fi ndings on familial aggregation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer, stated that "a common predisposition to pulmonary dysfunction in families of COPD and lung cancer probably precedes, rather than merely accompanies, both neoplastic and nonneoplastic disease" ( 1 ). Following such a hypothesis, she proposed a model in which impaired pulmonary function, irrespective of its causation (either genetically or environmentally mediated), could lead to many disorders including COPD and lung cancer.