EGFR and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: In addition, in patients with IPF, the mRNA level of EGFR was upregulated in proliferative alveolar epithelial cells around fibrosis, and the mRNA level of EGFR was positively correlated with the mRNA level of type I collagen and negatively correlated with the clinical prognosis (Tzouvelekis et al., 2013).