Loading...
Neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract are rare and often exhibit indolent natural histories; functionally active tumors synthesize hormones or vasoactive amines. Octreotide, an octapeptide with affinity for somatostatin receptors commonly expressed by these tumors, relieves symptoms associated with functional neuroendocrine cancers. Some evidence suggests that octreotide might inhibit neuroendocrine tumor growth, but until now there have been no randomized trials designed to compare observation and active treatment with octreotide.
In this interim analysis of a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 85 treatment-naive patients with metastatic neuroendocrine midgut cancer were randomized to either observation — with treatment i…