The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1 has been shown elevated in several cancer types such as breast, colon, melanoma, head and neck as well as lung cancer and is associated with an increase in metastases and poor prognosis.28 We did not observe any difference between serum levels of IL-1b between the NSCLC and COPD cohorts investigated. The gene discussed is IL1B; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.