EREG and chronic bronchitis: Oxidant-induced goblet cell metaplasia in human airway epithelium (such as asthma and chronic bronchitis) leads to EGFR activation.35 TB increases the expression of epiregulin which is a marker of advanced disease in NSCLC patients and confers invasive properties on EGFR-mutant cells.36,37 A recent retrospective study conducted in Taiwan showed that patients with lung adenocarcinoma who had either scar cancers or old TB lesions had a higher probability of having EGFR mutations, especially exon 19 deletions.38 Nevertheless, these studies emphasized that inflammation may cause EGFR mutations.