Objective: Somatostatin analogues have been proposed for the treatment of thyrotrophinomas. However, this treatment requires several s.c. injections a day to be effective. The present study had the following aims: (i) appraisal of the efficacy of a single dose of two somatostatin analogues (lanreotide and octreotide) to acutely inhibit TSH secretion of TSH-secreting pituitary adenomas; (ii) assessment of the efficacy of a single injection of a slow release formulation of lanreotide (SR-L) in reducing TSH and thyroid hormone secretions in the same cases; and (iii) evaluation of the effects of SR-L used for 3-6 months on hormone secretion and tumour size.
Patients: Four patients with hyperthyroidism linked to a TSH-secreting pituitary adenoma found on pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and subsequently proved by immunohistochemistry were studied.
Methods: In the first step of the study the patients received in a random order, vehicle, 150 micrograms octreotide and 500 micrograms lanreotide as a single s.c. injection. Measurements of plasma TSH, free T4 (fT4), free T3 (fT3) and free alpha subunit (fAS) levels were carried out before injection and then every other hour for 8 hours. In the second part of the study, after a basal blood sample (0800 h), each patient received 30 mg lanreotide as an i.m. injection of SR-L. Blood was sampled 2 hours later and then three times a week for 3 weeks in order to measure plasma TSH, fT4, fT3 and lanreotide levels using radioimmunoassays. The patients then received one SR-L injection twice or in one case three times a month for 3-6 months. Plasma TSH, fT4 and fT3 levels were measured monthly and a pituitary MRI was performed at the end of the treatment with SR-L.
Results: 500 micrograms lanreotide acutely reduced plasma TSH and fAS levels to the same extent as 150 micrograms octreotide. Two hours after a single i.m. injection of SR-L plasma lanreotide levels reached 7.8 +/- 0.6 micrograms/l and then progressively decreased, being 1.8 +/- 0.2 microgram/l on day 2 and 1.1 +/- 0.3 microgram/l on day 14 after the injection. Plasma TSH level decreased from basal value (mean +/- SEM 4.4 +/- 1.2 mlU/l) within 2 hours (2.5 +/- 0.8 mlU/l) and further declined to 0.8 +/- 0.2 ml/Ul on day 2 following the injection. Depending on the patient, plasma TSH levels were reduced for a period of 6-15 days. Plasma fT4, fT3 levels were normalized on day 2 and remained in the normal range for a period of time of 9-20 days. During long-term treatment, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea appeared, leading to interruption of the treatment in one patient. The treatment was well tolerated in the other three patients. Plasma TSH and thyroid hormone levels progressively decreased during the treatment. No change in adenoma volume was observed after 3-6 months of therapy.
Conclusions: This study shows that (i) lanreotide is able to inhibit acutely TSH secretion in thyrotrophinomas and that a single s.c. injection of 500 micrograms lanreotide is as effective as 150 micrograms octreotide; (ii) SR-L appears to be able to reduce plasma TSH and to normalize fT4 and fT3 levels for 9-20 days in patients with thyrotrophinomas; (iii) this effect is maintained throughout the treatment using two or three SR-L injections monthly for months. These results suggest that SR-L could be used as a treatment of thyrotrophinomas and avoids the drawbacks of the modes of administration of other somatostatin analogues used in such cases.