STUDY INVESTIGATING SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF SOMATOSTATIN

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Acromegaly causes well-known physical changes and carries an overall 2-3 fold increased mortality which can be decreased by treatment. Transsphenodoidal surgery can cure only about two-thirds of patients. Medical therapy consists of bromocriptine and octreotide. Bromocriptine can reduce GH levels to normal in only about 10% of patients. Octreotide can reduce GH and IGF-I levels to normal in over 50% of patients, but must be given by subcutaneous injection 3 or more times daily. Lanreotide is a synthetic octapeptide analog of natural somatostatin with a prolonge half-life. In prior single dose studies with lanreotide in patients with acromegaly, GH levels fall rapidly within 2 hours and remain <5 ng/ml for 10-14 days with a return to pretretment values by 23 days. It is the purpose of this study to evaluate lanreotide wtih respect to its efficacy and tolerability in patients who have never received lanreotide before. Of importance is the ability to take an injection once every 10-14 days rather than 3 times a day. This would promote patient adherence and compliance greatly.