IL7R and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: This is particularly interesting, as it demonstrates that unlike its spirometric predecessors, our proposed lnc-IL7R expression-based diagnosis and/or prognosis of COPD takes into account COPD-pathognomonic lung inflammation and tissue damage that are captured with CT imaging, thus connoting a broader definition of abnormal lung function, which is purportedly missed by the spirometric definition of COPD in ~40% of the population, even in the presence of smoking history and displayed COPD symptomatology [24].