Does autocrine growth factor secretion form part of a mechanism which paradoxically protects against tumour development?

Autocrine growth factor secretion has classically been considered as a mechanism by which tumour cells achieve autonomous growth. However, there is now considerable evidence that autocrine circuits operate in the growth regulation of normal adult tissues. Here we consider the possible advantages to the normal epithelial cell of utilising such an external growth factor circuit and suggest that autocrine growth factor secretion, when viewed in a multicellular context, could paradoxically form part of a mechanism for preventing tumour development.