Established clinical use of octreotide and lanreotide in oncology.

The diagnosis and treatment of neuroendocrine tumors have been significantly improved during the last decades. Localization and staging of the disease by somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (Octreoscan) are now the 'gold standard' for the management of these tumors. Treatment with somatostatin analogs has improved quality of life and possibly also survival for patients with neuroendocrine tumors. New long-acting formulations of the somatostatin analogs are as effective as the old regular formulations but will further improve quality of life for the patients. Tumor-targeted therapy with (111)In and (90)Y coupled to somatostatin analogs show promising results but await further studies. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel