{"entity":{"id":"growth-factor","kind":"term","name":"Growth factor","aka":["growth factors","growth-factor","growth-factors","epidermal growth factor","vascular endothelial growth factor"],"tldr":"A protein released by one cell that tells nearby cells to grow, divide or survive. Cancers often make their own or become hypersensitive to it.","summary":"Growth factors are ligands for receptors on the cell surface; EGF, HER-family ligands, FGFs, IGF-1, HGF and VEGF each bind a specific receptor family and trigger the same core pathways (RAS-MAPK, PI3K-AKT). In normal tissue their supply is limited, which caps growth; a tumour that secretes its own growth factor or carries a receptor that fires without one has removed that cap. VEGF is the growth factor for blood vessels and the target of anti-angiogenic drugs, and TGF-beta is a growth factor that paradoxically restrains early tumours but helps late ones invade and hide from the immune system.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_factor","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_factor"}],"tags":[],"related":["growth-signal","ligand","receptor","angiogenesis","signalling-pathway"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":["egfr","vegf","met"],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":["ras-mapk","vegf-angiogenesis"],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Biology basics"},"route":"/terms/growth-factor/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"angiogenesis","kind":"term","name":"Angiogenesis","route":"/terms/angiogenesis/"},{"id":"growth-signal","kind":"term","name":"Growth signal","route":"/terms/growth-signal/"},{"id":"ligand","kind":"term","name":"Ligand","route":"/terms/ligand/"},{"id":"receptor","kind":"term","name":"Receptor","route":"/terms/receptor/"},{"id":"signalling-pathway","kind":"term","name":"Signalling pathway","route":"/terms/signalling-pathway/"}],"target":[{"id":"egfr","kind":"target","name":"EGFR","route":"/targets/egfr/"},{"id":"met","kind":"target","name":"MET","route":"/targets/met/"},{"id":"vegf","kind":"target","name":"VEGF / VEGFR","route":"/targets/vegf/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"ras-mapk","kind":"pathway","name":"RAS / RAF / MEK / ERK (MAPK)","route":"/pathways/ras-mapk/"},{"id":"vegf-angiogenesis","kind":"pathway","name":"VEGF angiogenesis","route":"/pathways/vegf-angiogenesis/"}]}}