Turning Off Cancer’s Growth Signal: The Unexpected New Life of a Growth Hormone Related Drug

When most of us hear “growth hormone,” we think of childhood, with bones lengthening, bodies developing, and the remarkable biological machinery that turns a small child into an adult. Growth hormone, or GH, deserves that reputation. Produced mainly by the pituitary gland, it helps regulate growth, metabolism, organ development and the production of another important messenger, insulin-like growth factor 1. Yet decades of research have revealed a more complicated story. The same signals that encourage healthy cells to grow and adapt can, in the wrong setting, help cancer cells survive.