Claimed effect · Octreotide

Does Octreotide help with overall survival in neuroendocrine tumours?

B
Grade B — probable, not settledPROMID (underpowered) · effect size: not measurable
Short answerProbable, not settled. Human data exist (PROMID (underpowered)) and mostly agree, showing no measurable effect, or none yet shown — but too few, too small, or not yet peer-reviewed for a firm answer. A non-significant trend with only 16 deaths at interim; the long-term follow-up remained inconclusive, partly because most placebo patients crossed over.

What the studies show

A non-significant trend with only 16 deaths at interim; the long-term follow-up remained inconclusive, partly because most placebo patients crossed over.

“The HR for overall survival was 0.81 (95% CI, 0.30 to 2.18).”

Verbatim, from the abstractRinke A, Müller HH, Schade-Brittinger C, et al. Placebo-controlled, double-blind, prospective, randomized study on the effect of octreotide LAR in the control of tumor growth in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine midgut tumors: a report from the PROMID Study Group. J Clin Oncol, 2009

Human trials exist and mostly agree, but there are too few of them, they are too small, or one big one is still reading out. Expect the grade to move.

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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

Is Octreotide proven to help with overall survival in neuroendocrine tumours?
Not yet settled. PROMID (underpowered) — LYO grades it B, meaning probable but liable to change as trials read out.
What studies are behind the grade?
A non-significant trend with only 16 deaths at interim; the long-term follow-up remained inconclusive, partly because most placebo patients crossed over.
Is Octreotide approved for this?
Octreotide is an approved medicine (Approved (Rx)); whether this particular outcome is a licensed indication is stated on the compound page's regulation section.

Other outcomes for Octreotide

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 →