Mutations in the SFTPA2 gene have been analyzed in people with the inherited adaptation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF, a lung disease that affects 200,000 people, only in the U.S.

This disease mainly affects people age 50 and older than that and causes intense scarring of the lungs that cause about 40,000 deaths per year, according to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.

One out of 50 patients of IPF has an inherited form of the condition and in such cases the treatment is none other than lung transplant. The results were revealed in the January issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics.

The SFTPA2 gene performs the function of producing surfactant protein A2 in the pulmonary fluid of the lungs, and it provide the protection of organ against invading pathogens.

In the study, researchers from University of Texas analyzed the people with the inherited type of the disease many of these people with the mutant gene had lung cancer as well as IPF. The researchers concluded that the gene mutations are tied to both or the conditions.

The researchers are presently working on molecular studies to discover the fact, why these gene mutations increase the risk for lung cancer or IPF?