SOMATOSTATINA - OCTREOTIDE IN MALATTIE LINFOPROLIFERATIVE

Chemotherapy. 2001;47 Suppl 2:150-61.Octreotide for cancer of the liver and biliary tree.Kouroumalis EA.Inoperable liver tumors have an unfavorable natural course despite various therapeuticmodalities. Octreotide, a somatostatin analog, has shown considerable antitumoractivity on animal models of various hepatic tumors and on isolated cell culture lines. Inthis paper, a review of the experimental evidence is presented. Moreover clinical papersof case reports of uncontrolled studies of patients are also reviewed. The majority ofclinical studies provide evidence of a clinical and biochemical response of liver endocrinetumors while regression of tumor size is a rare event. A randomized controlled trial ofoctreotide in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma has shown asignificant survival benefit in the treated patients. Literature reports indicate astimulatory effect of octreotide on Kupffer cells as a possible antitumor mechanism, butother antiproliferative actions of octreotide have been suggested but not proved. Finallythe question of the presence and affinity of somatostatin receptors on liver tumor tissueis discussed. In conclusion, according to our experience, octreotide administration is thebest available treatment for advanced inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma and futurebetter patient selection, based on receptor subtypes, might further improve the results.