PMID: 16625846Apr 22, 2006Paper

Efficacy and limits of somatostatin analogs

Journal of Endocrinological Investigation
S Petersenn

Abstract

For a considerable time, somatostatin analogs have been the medical therapy of choice for the treatment of acromegaly. In addition to their well-established use as an adjunctive therapy, primary therapy with somatostatin analogs has been investigated in recent years. Adjunctive therapy with octreotide long-acting release over 12-36 months allowed for sufficient GH suppression in 47-75% of patients (average 56%), as summarized by Freda. IGF-I was normalized in 41-75% (average 66%). Tumor shrinkage was observed in about 30% of patients, with a mass reduction of 20-50% in most cases. A bias in some of these studies cannot be excluded, with patients being selected on base of their octreotide responsiveness. Regarding primary treatment of acromegaly with long-acting somatostatin analogs, our review of five published studies, that applied stringent criteria for the analysis of biochemical normalization, revealed sufficient GH and IGF-I suppression in 68% and 61% of the 107 patients included, respectively, and significant tumor reduction in 51%. Therefore, somatostatin analogs represent an effective medical therapy in a significant proportion of patients with acromegaly. Resistance to currently available somatostatin analogs in some p...Continue Reading

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