The main results of our study are that: i) KGF and HGF lung expression is preserved in emphysema patients, ii) HGF-R and KGF-R mRNA are consistently expressed in the lung of emphysema patients and are not modified by the smoking status, iii) HGF mRNA correlates with the severity of airflow obstruction in smokers. The gene discussed is FGF7; the disease is pulmonary emphysema.