Correlating Outcomes With Biochemical Markers to Estimate Time-progression in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

Study purpose: The disease course of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is variable. During the course of the disease some patients will get better, some will stay the same, and others will get worse. Currently doctors do not have any way to predict an individual patients disease course. The purpose of this study is to determine if 'biomarkers' such as proteins or genes isolated at the time of diagnosis can be used to predict the disease course. These 'biomarkers' will be obtained from samples of blood, from a procedure call a bronchoscopy, and in some patients from extra tissue obtained by a surgical lung biopsy.