Somatostatin analogs in the treatment of acromegaly.

Medical therapy of acromegaly with the somatostatin analog octreotide is very successful. Both clinical symptomatology and hormonal hypersecretion by the growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas are controlled, and peripheral IGF-I levels also return to near normal levels. Tumor shrinkage is observed in most patients. Somatostatin analogs can be used after noncurative surgery and for a limited period after radiotherapy, and octreotide pretreatment might improve the outcome of surgery.