Janson E Tiensuu
Department of Medical Sciences, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
J Endocrinol Invest. 2005;28(11 Suppl International):137-40.
Somatostatin is a peptide hormone that posses several biological functions of which inhibition of hormone secretion from endocrine cells is one. Neuroendocrine tumors usually express somatostatin receptors (SSTRs), although the subtypes and number of SSTRs expressed in a certain tumor is very variable. The primary goal of somatostatin analog treatment is to decrease hormone production and secretion, resulting in control of hormone induced symptoms, while the ability of somatostatin analogs to retard tumor growth is less well documented. All patients considered for somatostatin analog treatment should undergo SSTR scintigraphy (111In-pentetreotide) to establish SSTR status, since the expression is usually correlated to therapeutic response. By this approach, it is possible to select patients suitable for treatment. Among patients with functioning neuroendocrine tumors expressing SSTR, more than 80% respond with symptomatic relief during somatostatin analog treatment, while treatment of non-functioning tumors still remains somewhat controversial.
生长抑素是一种具有多种生物学功能的肽类激素，其中抑制内分泌细胞分泌激素是其功能之一。神经内分泌肿瘤通常表达生长抑素受体（SSTRs），尽管某一肿瘤中表达的SSTR亚型和数量差异很大。生长抑素类似物治疗的主要目标是减少激素的产生和分泌，从而控制激素引起的症状，而生长抑素类似物延缓肿瘤生长的能力文献记载较少。所有考虑接受生长抑素类似物治疗的患者都应进行SSTR闪烁扫描（111In-奥曲肽）以确定SSTR状态，因为其表达通常与治疗反应相关。通过这种方法，可以选择适合治疗的患者。在表达SSTR的功能性神经内分泌肿瘤患者中，超过80%在生长抑素类似物治疗期间症状得到缓解，而非功能性肿瘤的治疗仍存在一定争议。
