ReviewNature reviews. Endocrinology2011
Growth hormone, the insulin-like growth factor axis, insulin and cancer risk.
Review in Nature reviews. Endocrinology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 172 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
172 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 359 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anthropometrics, cancer risks, and survival outcomes in adult patients with glioma - a systematic review and meta-analysis.Acta neurochirurgica · 2025Pooled it
- Uterine fibroids in women diagnosed with acromegaly: a systematic review.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2024Pooled it
- Body mass index and height and risk of cutaneous melanoma: Mendelian randomization analyses.International journal of epidemiology · 2020Pooled it
- Adult height is associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer: a Mendelian randomisation study.British journal of cancer · 2018Pooled it
- Association between investigator-measured body-mass index and colorectal adenoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 168,201 subjects.European journal of epidemiology · 2018Pooled it
- Abdominal obesity and colorectal cancer risk: systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.Bioscience reports · 2017Pooled it
- Growth hormone replacement therapy reduces risk of cancer in adult with growth hormone deficiency: A meta-analysis.Oncotarget · 2016Pooled it
- Obesity and the risk of cholangiocarcinoma: a meta-analysis.Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine · 2014Pooled it
- GrowthHormone Research Society workshop summary: consensus guidelines for recombinant human growth hormone therapy in Prader-Willi syndrome.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2013Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Height and cancer incidence in the Million Women Study: prospective cohort, and meta-analysis of prospective studies of height and total cancer risk.The Lancet. Oncology · 2011Pooled it
- Association Between Height and Clinical Outcome in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Enrolled Onto a Randomized Phase 3 Clinical Trial: Data From the FIRE-3 Study.Clinical colorectal cancer · 2018Trial
- Dose-sparing and safety-enhancing effects of an IGF-I-based dosing regimen in short children treated with growth hormone in a 2-year randomized controlled trial: therapeutic and pharmacoeconomic considerations.Clinical endocrinology · 2014Trial
- Thyroid abnormalities in acromegaly in the era of improved disease control: a two-stage study.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2026Article
- Acromegaly is associated with an increased incidence of primary malignant tumors: data from a national study in Sweden.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Deep learning-based classification of gh-secreting pituitary neuroendocrine tumors granulation patterns using H&E-stained histopathology.BMC endocrine disorders · 2026Article
- A sweet danger: the silent link between hyperinsulinemia and gastric cancer.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- [Sex and gender-specific aspects in prediabetes and diabetes mellitus - Clinical recommendations (Update 2026)].Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2026Review
- Body height and the excess cancer risk in men.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Correlation analysis ofVeterinary research forum : an international quarterly journal · 2026Article
112 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and insulin have potent growth-promoting and anabolic actions. Their potential involvement in tumor promotion and progression has been of concern for several decades. The evidence that GH, IGF-I and insulin can promote and contribute to cancer progression comes from various sources, including transgenic and knockout mouse models and animal and human cell lines derived from cancers. Assessments of the GH-IGF axis in healthy individuals followed up to assess cancer incidence provide direct evidence of this risk; raised IGF-I levels in blood are associated with a slightly increased risk of some cancers. Studies of human diseases characterized by excess growth factor secretion or treated with growth factors have produced reassuring data, with no notable increases in de novo cancers in children treated with GH. Although follow-up for the vast majority of these children does not yet extend beyond young adulthood, a slight increase in cancers in those with long-standing excess GH secretion (as seen in patients with acromegaly) and no overall increase in cancer with insulin treatment, have been observed. Nevertheless, long-term surveillance for cancer incidence in all populations exposed to increased levels of GH is vitally important.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.