Somatostatin analog lanreotide in the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)

Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2009 Feb;10(3):493-501. doi: 10.1517/14656560802694689.

Abstract

Prostate cancer is a common disease affecting males. Despite initial sensitivity to hormone treatment, prostate cancer eventually progresses to a castration-resistant stage (CRPC), which carries an ominous prognosis. Lanreotide is a long-acting somatostatin analog with the same properties with the native peptide. It has been shown to be highly efficacious in treating various hypersecretoty disorders and tumors. Lanreotide has been administered to patients with CRPC within a novel treatment concept, with the aim of targeting not only cancer cells but also various factors secreted in the tumor cell milieu that confer protection from apoptosis. Within this concept, lanreotide has been administered as part of the "antisurvival factor therapy" in combination with dexamethasone and a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analog. It has also been given combined with oestrogens in patients with CRPC. The so far published series have documented a clinical response in many patients treated along with significant improvement in parameters related to quality of life. In view of these promising results, large-scale, randomized, controlled trials are warranted to clearly define the exact role of lanreotide and other somatostatin analogs in the treatment of patients with CRPC.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Androgen Antagonists / therapeutic use
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacokinetics
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / toxicity
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Bone Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Bone Neoplasms / secondary
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Dexamethasone / administration & dosage
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm*
  • Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / administration & dosage
  • Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / analogs & derivatives
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Peptides, Cyclic / pharmacokinetics
  • Peptides, Cyclic / therapeutic use*
  • Peptides, Cyclic / toxicity
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Quality of Life
  • Somatostatin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Somatostatin / pharmacokinetics
  • Somatostatin / therapeutic use
  • Somatostatin / toxicity

Substances

  • Androgen Antagonists
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Peptides, Cyclic
  • lanreotide
  • Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone
  • Somatostatin
  • Dexamethasone