[A prolonged-action somatostatin analog and carcinoid syndrome]

Octreotide, a long-acting somatostatin analogue, was used 22 patients with carcinoid syndrome. Administered at doses of 100 to 1,000 micrograms per day according to the clinical status, octreotide resulted in a definite reduction, sometimes complete, of diarrhoea and flushes in about 60% of the cases, and in a significant decrease of urinary output of 5 hydroxy-indol acetic acid from initial values, in 18 patients that could be tested before and during the initial phase of therapy (- 37.6 +/- 7.9%, p less than 0.02). The symptomatic improvement was maintained in 13 patients treated for 3-36 months, even when no anti-tumoral complementary procedure was performed. In 2 patients, treatment discontinuation was followed by symptomatic relapse, rapidly controlled when therapy was reintroduced. These results suggest that octreotide allows for short term and prolonged control of carcinoid syndrome in the majority of patients presenting with this condition.