Introduction

Abstract

Since 1971 and the isolation, identification and synthesis of mammalian GnRH by Drs. Schally and Guillemin the pace of research in this subject area has been explosive and involved many disciplines. Synthetic efforts have produced several thousand analogues; seven of the most potent agonists are under commercial sponsorship and are either marketed or in late stages of clinical trial around the world. Prostatic cancer, precocious puberty and endometriosis patients now have a valuable new therapy to alleviate their condition and progress. A range of other applications is summarized in Chapter 1 and Volumes 2–4.