Clinical use of growth factors

Cellular proliferation and differentiation in the living organism are regulated, at least in part, by a complex network of interacting peptides, or growth factors. The purification and molecular cloning of these growth factors has now led to the exciting task of ascertaining their physiological role in vivo and to verify their value as therapeutic substances worthy of clinical use. Rigorous methods of drug evaluation are required to prove the efficacy and safety of these new biological agents, particularly now that so many of them are being produced by the new genetic engineering techniques. Haemopoietic growth factors and growth factors involved in the regulation of the immune response have been more extensively studied clinically and are discussed in this section.