Researchers are turning to growth factors and glutathione in attempts to find new approaches for the prevention and treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. In particular, pretreatment with fibroblast growth factor-7 prevents bleomycin-induced pulmonary injury in animals, and strategies that increase alveolar cell glutathione concentrations may be effective in limiting pulmonary fibrosis. These approaches to therapy, as well as suggestions for improving clinical studies in patients with pulmonary fibrosis, were discussed at the Annual International Meeting of the American Lung Association and the American Thoracic Society [Seattle, US; May 1995].