Gastrointestinal symptoms in acromegaly: A case control study

Oral octreotide capsules for acromegaly treatment: application of clinical trial insights to real-world use

INTRODUCTION

Acromegaly is a rare endocrine disorder usually caused by a benign growth hormone‒secreting pituitary adenoma. Surgical adenoma resection is typically the first line of treatment, and medical therapy is used for patients with persistent disease following surgery, for adenoma recurrence, or for patients ineligible for, or declining, surgery. Approved somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) have been limited to injectable options, until recently. Oral octreotide capsules (OOC) are the first approved oral SRL for patients with acromegaly.

AREAS COVERED

We review published reports and provide case study examples demonstrating practical considerations on the use of OOC. Using two hypothetical case scenarios, we discuss current treatment patterns, breakthrough symptoms and quality of life (QoL), efficacy of SRLs, OOC dose titration, evaluation of OOC treatment response, and incidence and management of adverse events.

EXPERT OPINION

OOC are an option for patients with acromegaly including those who experience breakthrough symptoms, who have preference for oral therapies, or other reasons for declining injectable SRLs. OOC have been associated with improved patient-reported QoL measures compared with those reported for lanreotide and octreotide. Continued real-world experience will determine whether OOC, alone or in combination with other therapies, provides further advantages over current injectable acromegaly treatments.

Acromegaly and Colorectal Neoplasm: An Update

Acromegaly is a systemic disease caused by excessive inappropriate secretion of GH and IGF-I levels, resulting in many systemic complications, including cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic diseases, and a possible increased risk of some neoplasias. Although many studies on acromegaly and cancer remain uncertain, most data indicate that colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence is increased in this population. The exact mechanism involved in the role of GH-IGF-I axis in CRC has not been fully explained, yet it is associated with local and circulating effects of GH and IGF-I on the colon, promoting angiogenesis, cell proliferation, risk of mutation, inhibition of tumor-suppressor genes and apoptosis, thus facilitating a tumor microenvironment. Nevertheless, population-based studies present controversial findings on CRC incidence and mortality. All worldwide guidelines and expert consensuses agree with the need for colonoscopic screening and surveillance in acromegaly, although there is no consensus regarding the best period to do this. This review aims to analyze the existing data on CRC and acromegaly, exploring its pathophysiology, epidemiological studies and their limitations, colonic polyp characteristics, overall cancer and CRC incidences and mortality, risk factors for colon cancer pathophysiology, and recommendation guideline aspects.

Acromegaly and the Colon: Scoping Beyond the Pituitary

Acromegaly is a complex endocrinological disorder commonly caused by hypersecretion of growth hormone (GH) typically due to pituitary gland tumors. Patients with acromegaly who are successfully treated and biochemically managed have a reasonably average life expectancy. However, it causes a cascade of multi-systemic involvement throughout the patient's life, including cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, metabolic, neurological, neoplastic, and gastrointestinal involvement, resulting in a higher rate of hospitalization, lower quality of life, and a shorter life expectancy. Although cardiovascular complications are the primary cause of death in patients with acromegaly, malignancy is now emerging as a major killer in these individuals. Colorectal carcinoma has been reported to be prevalent in acromegaly individuals. This review article has compiled studies to demonstrate a link between acromegaly and colorectal neoplasia, intending to provide a strong foundation for their clinical relationship. This article has summarised a potential pathogenic mechanism and provided insights into the clinical presentation of such patients. Furthermore, this article has provided a brief overview of current screening recommendations for colorectal neoplasia in acromegaly patients.

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics, morbidity and treatment based on the registry of acromegalic patients in Colombia: RAPACO

AIMS

Describe the local characteristics, methodology and results of the registry of acromegalic patients in Colombia (RAPACO).

METHODS

Multicenter, retrospective study based on the registry of acromegalic patients in Colombia: RAPACO. The data collected included: demographics, diagnosis, approximate time of disease evolution, data on weight, height, body mass index (BMI), neck circumference (NC) abdominal circumference (AC) hip circumference (HC) and waist/hip ratio (WHR); clinical and biochemical data at the time of diagnosis, etiology, immunohistochemistry of the tumor and information related to types of treatment. Descriptive analytics were employed.

RESULTS

A total of 201 patients (60% females) with an average age at registration of 49.5 ± 14.6 years and an average time of evolution of the disease of 6.96 ± 4.5 years. Average weight was 75.1 Kg ± 12.98, with an average BMI of 28.11 ± 4.33. The most frequent symptoms mentioned at the time of diagnosis were extremity enlargement and headache. The most frequent comorbidity was arterial hypertension in 50.3% of the cases. 78.6% of cases were caused by macroadenoma. 80.1% received surgical treatment, 77.6% were under medical treatment, of which 95.7% were receiving somatostatin analogues. 26.4% of patients were treated with radiation therapy. Of the patients who received any type of clinical treatment, only 2.5% reported biochemical control at registration.

CONCLUSION

It is important to recognize the local epidemiological, clinical, biochemical and treatment characteristics in order to assist in further understanding this pathology to implement local measures to improve both the quality of life as well as the prognosis of the patients diagnosed.