The secretome of senescent epithelial cells, including IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8, promotes the differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts and their resistance to apoptosis, and thus leads to the progression of lung fibrosis (Minagawa et al., 2011; Chen et al., 2019; Tian et al., 2019). This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and pulmonary fibrosis.