The currently available long-acting somatostatin analogs normalize serum growth hormone (GH) levels and insulin-like growth factor-I levels in approximately 60% of patients with acromegaly. The recently introduced GH receptor antagonist, pegvisomant, is able to normalize insulin-like growth factor-I levels in virtually all acromegalic subjects. Although no correlation between increased GH concentrations and tumor size has been found, long-term safety studies are still in progress. Also, pegvisomant monotherapy is administered once daily and is very costly. Combined treatment of a somatostatin analog with pegvisomant appears to be an effective and rational approach. Copyright

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doi.org/10.1159/000095537, hdl.handle.net/1765/65965
Neuroendocrinology: international journal for basic and clinical studies on neuroendocrine relationships
Department of Internal Medicine

van der Lely, A.-J., & Kopchick, J. (2006). Growth hormone receptor antagonists. In Neuroendocrinology: international journal for basic and clinical studies on neuroendocrine relationships (Vol. 83, pp. 264–268). doi:10.1159/000095537