Claimed effect · Octreotide

Does Octreotide help with tumour progression in midgut neuroendocrine tumours?

A
Grade A — established in humans1 placebo-controlled RCT (n=85) · effect size: large
Short answerEstablished in humans. 1 placebo-controlled RCT (n=85) point the same way: a large effect. Time to progression rose from 6 to 14.3 months against placebo, in functionally active and inactive tumours alike; survival could not be assessed because too few patients died.

What the studies show

Time to progression rose from 6 to 14.3 months against placebo, in functionally active and inactive tumours alike; survival could not be assessed because too few patients died.

“Median time to tumor progression in the octreotide LAR and placebo groups was 14.3 and 6 months, respectively (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.59; P = .000072).”

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

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

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 tumour progression in midgut neuroendocrine tumours?
Yes, as far as human trials can show it: 1 placebo-controlled RCT (n=85). LYO grades this outcome A.
What studies are behind the grade?
Time to progression rose from 6 to 14.3 months against placebo, in functionally active and inactive tumours alike; survival could not be assessed because too few patients died.
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 →