Instability of bronchial epithelium in chronic pulmonary diseases.

Pathomorphological examination of large bronchi in patients with occupational diseases, lung cancer, and in subjects exposed to radiation revealed structural and functional heterogeneity of the epithelium: the presence of focal atrophy, metaplasia, hyper- and dysplasia in the same biopsy specimen. This phenomenon was termed as instability of the epithelium. Thickness of the epithelium greatly varied, especially, in neoplastic processes. Atrophy and epithelial instability phenomenon are interpreted as morphological markers of ecological and oncological risk.