Gastrointestinal growth factors and neoplasia

Gastrointestinal (GI) hormones are chemical messengers that have been recognized for over a century as regulatory factors for normal physiologic functions in the GI tract and pancreas, including absorption, secretion, motility, and digestion. These hormones traditionally act in a true endocrine fashion with release from a distant site to regulate physiologic functions of specific target organs. In general, GI hormones bind to their G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to produce their endocrine effects. In addition to effects on physiologic functions of the GI tract and pancreas, selected GI hormones can act in an endocrine, paracrine, and/or autocrine fashion to stimulate the proliferation of normal and neoplastic GI tissues as well as non-GI tissues. This review will focus on effects of GI hormones on neoplastic tissues concentrating on the hormones that have been best characterized for these effects.