The latest research by a team of scientists at Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin, China, found significant links between high expression level of zinc finger protein 143 ZNF143 and high risk of progression of COPD and tumour microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The researchers, who conducted ROC analysis on the mRNA expression data retrieved from public databases, found that  ZNF143 expression was significantly upregulated in COPD and is a potential diagnostic biomarker in COPD with AUC > 0.85. The study also highlighted that ZNF143 expression was significantly upregulated in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Pointing out the importance of these findings, the researchers stressed that  ZNF143 potentially acts as an important link between COPD and NSCLC.