Insulin-like Growth factors form an intricate system (IGF) that is integral to growth regulation. The best-known ligands of this family, IGF-I and IGF-II, share a 50% homology with insulin ? hence the terminology. Since many IGFs are acting as mitogenic stimulators of cellular proliferation and are thus considered as suppressors of apoptotic pathways, their association with cancer risk has been assumed for quite some time. The development and improvements of determination methods for IGFs in the circulation have now added information to epidemiological and clinical correlations, which support their role in malignant growth.
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