Prescription patterns of somatostatin analogues in patients with acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors
Jorge Machado Alba
Abstract
Objective . Acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors are rare diseases that, under certain conditions, can be treated with somatostatin analogues. The aim was to determine the prescription patterns of somatostatin analogues in a group of patients with acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors affiliated with the Colombian Health System.
Design . A retrospective study.
Methods: A cohort of patients from a drug dispensing database that collected all prescriptions of long-acting somatostatin analogues (octreotide, lanreotide, pasireotide). Sociodemographic variables, clinical variables (diagnosis and comorbidities) and pharmacological therapy variables (dose, changes, persistence of use, comedications) were considered.
Results : A total of 213 patients were identified, including 139 (65.3%) with acromegaly and 74 (34.7%) with neuroendocrine tumors. There was a predominance of women (58.7%) and a mean age of 59.7 ± 14.5 years. The most commonly used medications were lanreotide autogel (n = 107; 50.2%), octreotide LAR (n = 102; 47.9%) and pasireotide LAR (n = 4; 1.9%). During follow-up, 11.3% of patients experienced modifications of therapy, with a mean duration from the beginning of treatment to the change in medication of 25 ± 15.9 months. A total of 48.9% of the patients with acromegaly and 87.1% of individuals with neuroendocrine tumors received maximum approved doses of the drug.
Conclusions : Patients with acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors in Colombia are mainly women and are most frequently treated with lanreotide autogel for acromegaly and with octreotide LAR for neuroendocrine tumors. In addition, a high proportion are managed with maximum doses of long-acting somatostatin analogues.
