How growth hormone may be linked to cancer: concerns and perspective

Recent evidence from epidemiology indicates that inter-individual variations in the growth hormone (GH)/IGF-I pathway affect the risk of individuals developing common epithelial cancers. This is supported by associations between normal common variants within genes from the pathway and these cancers, which excludes many potential confounding issues, such as reverse causality. This raises concern for the increasing numbers of patients treated with GH; although replacement therapy for GH-deficiency should aim to restore normality, which should then only incur a normal risk. The links with cancer also offers promising new opportunities. Clinical trials treating cancer patients with pharmaceuticals targeting the IGF-I receptor are well advanced with promising initial findings. In the future, there has to be much more emphasis within oncology on prevention and the GH/IGF-I pathway is one of few identified risk factors that are modifiable, not just by pharmaceutical, but also nutritional, interventions that may, in the long term, be more appropriate. Assessing the status of the GH/IGF-I pathway in individuals may also provide a means for targeting screening programs and preventative measures.