Rapid Pituitary Tumor Shrinkage with Dissociation between Antiproliferative and Antisecretory Effects of a Long-Acting Octreotide in an Acromegalic Patient

Abstract

The significant antiproliferative effect of octreotide seems to be related to the higher expression of sst(5) and the negligible antihormonal effect to the lower expression of sst(2). However, activation of multiple receptors by new analogs may produce better control of tumor cell activities. The dissociation between antisecretive and antiproliferative effects observed in vivo and in vitro confirms that SSAs may induce tumor shrinkage despite the lack of effect on GH secretion.