Possible functional regression of insulinoma with prolonged octreotide

A 75 year old woman was treated for over three years with the somatostatin analogue, octreotide for an insulinoma. She had presented in a hypoglycaemic coma. C-peptide and insulin concentrations were both raised and an area of increased vascularity within the pancreas was shown by angiography. No lesion was found at laparotomy and no resection was performed. After over three years of octreotide treatment it was withdrawn for a week. Her insulin and C-peptide concentrations were greatly reduced at this time and remained so.