PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hormones related to insulin, the Insulin-like Growth Factors (IGFs) are best known for regulating growth and metabolism. In recent years, however, they and their related binding proteins have been found to have a large range of activities throughout life, from embryonic development to ageing and, perhaps most significantly, in cancer. In many of these ‘alternative’ actions, IGFs act locally rather than throughout the body. To ensure the specific targeting of a particular action to the correct tissues, a complex system of regulation has evolved to maintain a delicate balance between promoting healthy ageing and the run-away proliferation that characterises cancer. The latest findings on these sophisticated control mechanisms, in animals ranging from nematode worms and flies to humans, and their potential clinical applications, were discussed by twelve leading scientists at the eighth Colloque Médecine et Recherche of La Fondation Ipsen devoted to Endocrinology, that has been held in Paris on December 1, 2008. The meeting has been organised by David Clemmons (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA), Iain Robinson (National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK) and Yves Christen (La Fondation IPSEN, Paris, France).
