title: Disappearance of a growth hormone secreting macro adenoma during long-term somatostatin analogue administration and recurrence following somatostatin withdrawal.
abstract: Acromegaly is caused by excessive growth hormone secretion, usually from a pituitary adenoma. The use of somatostatin analogues as primary or adjunctive therapy has been widely applied in the management of acromegaly. We are aware of only three reported cases of complete shrinkage of a pituitary adenoma after long-term analogue administration. However in these cases, the reduction in the dimension of the adenoma was obtained with the everyday use of somatostatin analogues and not with the newer longer acting formulations. We report a patient in whom long term (62 months) lanreotide-L.A.R administration resulted in complete disappearance of a growth hormone secreting pituitary macroadenoma, followed by recurrence of the adenoma six months post therapy discontinuation.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine-Propaedeutic, Research Institute and Diabetes Centre, Athens University Medical School, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Sarantis
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Livadas
authors.forename: Dimitrios J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hadjidakis
authors.forename: Maria I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Argyropoulou
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stamatelatou
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kelekis
authors.forename: Sotirios A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Raptis
mesh_terms: D000172:Acromegaly / Q000188:drug therapy; D000236:Adenoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; C060347:lanreotide; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D013004:Somatostatin