Related medicinesOctreotideLanreotidePasireotide
Where it comes from
- Made in
- D cells of the stomach, gut and pancreatic islets; the hypothalamus and many other neurons
- Sent out by
- Acid and nutrients in the gut; in the hypothalamus, in pulses that shape growth hormone
- Acts on
- Pituitary (growth hormone, TSH)
- Pancreatic islets (insulin, glucagon)
- Gut (acid, enzymes, motility, absorption)
- Neurons
What it does
In medicine
- Octreotide (1988), lanreotide (2007) and pasireotide are long-acting analogues for acromegaly, neuroendocrine tumours, carcinoid syndrome and Cushing’s disease 2
- Radiolabelled analogues image (gallium dotatate PET) and treat (lutetium dotatate) neuroendocrine tumours
- Octreotide is used for variceal bleeding and dumping syndrome 3
Beyond the body’s own use
- Somatostatin itself lasts under three minutes in blood, so it is only ever infused in hospital; every medicine in the class is a shortened copy built to resist the enzymes that destroy it 1
- Octreotide has been tried for diabetic retinopathy, where two large trials gave mixed results and no approval followed, and for polycystic liver disease, where it slows the liver’s growth without changing symptoms much
- Which of the five receptors a tumour carries matters more than the hormone does: it decides whether gallium dotatate can find it and lutetium dotatate treat it 1
Sources
This card describes what a medicine is for and what the evidence says; it recommends nothing. Talk to your clinician about anything you read here.