LETTER
Insulin-Like Growth Factors and Hematologic Malignancies
Ilan Shimon, MD, and
Ofer Shpilberg, MD
1 July 1995 | Volume 123 Issue 1 | Page 76
TO THE EDITOR:
In their excellent review on the family of insulin-like growth factors (IGF) and cancer, LeRoith and colleagues [1] described the current knowledge of the role of the IGFs and of their receptors and binding proteins in certain solid tumors. However, the authors did not mention the involvement of the IGF system in the growth and development of neoplastic hematologic processes. We recently reviewed the relevant literature on the role of the IGF system in the regulation of normal and malignant hematopoiesis [2]. Nearly all hematopoietic cells, either normal or neoplastic, express the receptors of IGF, and some even produce IGFs or their binding proteins. Insulin-like growth factors seem to be involved in normal erythropoiesis, granulopoiesis, and lymphopoiesis. The growth factors are also mitogenic for cell lines of promyelocytic leukemia [3], acute myeloid leukemia [4], erythroleukemia, and Burkitt lymphoma and may stimulate proliferation of B-cell and T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia and erythroid progenitors in polycythemia vera [5]. The differentiation of certain immature malignant cell lines as myeloid leukemias or B-cell or T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia to their mature counterparts is usually accompanied by a decrease in the number and affinity of IGF-1 receptors on cells.
We therefore conclude that the IGF family of peptides, combined with other regulatory systems, has a role in the proliferation and differentiation of neoplastic hematopoietic disorders as important as the role of lymphokines and growth factors in the proliferation and differentiation of solid tumors.
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Author and Article Information
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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Los Angeles, CA 90048-1865
University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA 15261
1. LeRoith D, Baserga R, Helman L, Roberts CT Jr. Insulin-like growth factors and cancer. Ann Intern Med. 1995; 122:54-9.
2. Shimon I, Shpilberg O. The insulin-like growth factor system in regulation of normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Leuk Res. 1995; 19:233-40.
3. Sinclair J, McClain D, Taetle R. Effects of insulin and insulin-like growth factor I on growth of human leukemia cells in serum-free and protein-free medium. Blood. 1988; 72:66-72.
4. Oksenberg D, Dieckmann BS, Greenberg PL. Functional interactions between colony-stimulating factors and the insulin family hormones for human myeloid leukemic cells. Cancer Res. 1990; 50:6471-7.
5. Correa PN, Eskinazi D, Axelrod AA. Circulating erythroid progenitors in polycythemia vera are hypersensitive to insulin-like growth factor-1 in vitro: studies in an improved serum-free medium. Blood. 1994; 83:99-112.
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