STUDY INVESTIGATING SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF SOMATOSTATIN

肢端肥大症会引起众所周知的身体变化，死亡率总体上会增加2-3倍，通过治疗可以降低死亡率。经蝶手术只能治愈约三分之二的患者。药物治疗包括溴隐亭和奥曲肽。溴隐亭只有10%的患者可以将生长激素水平降低到正常水平。奥曲肽可以将50%以上的患者的GH和IGF-I水平降至正常，但必须每天皮下注射3次或更多。兰瑞肽是一种人工合成的天然生长抑素的八肽类似物，半衰期较长。在先前使用兰瑞肽治疗肢端肥大症患者的单剂量研究中，生长激素水平在2小时内迅速下降，并在10-14天内保持在5 ng/ml，23天后恢复到治疗前的水平。这项研究的目的是评估兰瑞肽在从未接受过兰瑞肽治疗的患者中的疗效和耐受性。重要的是能够每10-14天注射一次，而不是一天3次。这将极大地促进患者的依从性和依从性。

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.