The insulin-like growth factors and breast cancer--revisited.

In 1992, a special issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment was devoted to the insulin-like growth factors and breast cancer. In that issue, identification of the key components of the IGF system was reviewed and their potential role in breast cancer growth was described. In this issue, we revisit the IGF system with particular attention to data that further supports their role in the growth regulation of breast cancer. Several new facets of the IGF system are described, and several laboratories have more clearly defined how each individual component of the IGF system may influence breast cancer biology.