Does Octreotide help with acromegaly?

What the studies show

Normalises IGF-1 in roughly half of patients and shrinks the pituitary tumour in a majority; first-line medical therapy after or instead of surgery.

Several well-run randomised trials in people, pointing the same way. You can plan around this. It still says nothing about whether the effect is worth the side effects for you.

1. 1
   Octreotide (Sandostatin, Sandostatin LAR) prescribing information and approved indications.FDA / EMA product informationLicensed indications; acromegaly and carcinoid data.

In context

Octreotide is an eight-amino-acid analogue of somatostatin, the hormone that inhibits growth hormone, insulin, glucagon and most gut hormones. Native somatostatin lasts two minutes; octreotide lasts hours, and a monthly depot lasts a month. It is the standard treatment for acromegaly — growth-hormone excess from a pituitary tumour — and for the flushing and diarrhoea of hormone-secreting neuroendocrine tumours. In the PROMID trial it more than doubled the time before such tumours progressed. It is prescription-only everywhere and, as the drug that suppresses growth hormone, sits at the opposite pole from the secretagogues sold on the grey market.

Octreotide is approved (rx). Legal status differs by country — see the regulation section or the jurisdiction pages.

Questions

Other outcomes for Octreotide

• ACarcinoid syndrome symptomsApproval-grade
• ATumour progression in midgut neuroendocrine tumours1 placebo-controlled RCT (n=85)
• BOverall survival in neuroendocrine tumoursPROMID (underpowered)
• AAdverse effectsadverseDecades of use

Written and maintained by LYO Research — how pages are written and checked. Reviewed 10 September 2026. Grades count human evidence only; see how LYO grades. Not medical advice. Correct this page →