Surgical resection is often not curative in patients with acromegaly and long-acting somatostatin analogues (lanreotide or
octreotide) are often needed. This study assessed the efficacy and safety of self- or partner-administration of lanreotide
in patients with acromegaly. This was a six-month, single-arm, open-label study conducted at 13 endocrinology clinics. Fifty-nine
patients received deep subcutaneous lanreotide injections every 28 days. Twelve patients started on 120 mg lanreotide and
forty-seven started on 90 mg lanreotide. At week 16, the dose was adjusted to 60, 90 or 120 mg based on insulin-like growth
factor-1 (IGF-1) levels at week 12. Fifty-nine patients with acromegaly either switched from long-acting octreotide (switch;
n = 33) or were somatostatin analogue treatment-naïve or not currently taking long-acting octreotide (“other”; n = 26). The key endpoints included the percentage of patients/partners able to self- or partner-inject lanreotide and those
with normal IGF-1 or growth hormone (GH) levels at week 24/early termination. 100% of patients/partners correctly self- (n = 41) or partner-injected (n = 18) lanreotide by week 4. By week 24/early termination, IGF-1 levels were controlled in 93.7% of switch and 46.2% of “other”
patients, while GH levels were controlled in 76.9% and 39.1% of patients, respectively. Both IGF-1 and GH were controlled
in 73.1% of switch and 30.4% of “other” patients. Most switch patients (81%) reported they preferred lanreotide over long-acting
octreotide for future use (P = 0.0001). Self- or partner-administration of lanreotide is generally well tolerated and associated with IGF-1 and GH control
in many lanreotide-naïve patients with acromegaly.
Keywords Acromegaly - Self-administration - Somatostatin analogue - Lanreotide - Octreotide
See the Appendix for the full list of study investigators and coordinators of the SALSA Study Group.