Biochemical and quality of life responses to octreotide-LAR in acromegaly.

Objectives: AcroQoL is a questionnaire developed to assess quality of life in patients with acromegaly, covering physical and psychological dimensions. This study was designed to determine AcroQoL score changes and concentrations of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), before and after treatment with octreotide-LAR (oct-LAR) in acromegaly.

Methods: Retrospective observational study of 28 acromegalic patients with a mean age of 45 years (range 28-64), evaluated over a 4-year period, before and during treatment with oct-LAR in clinical practice conditions.

Results: Baseline AcroQoL score (53 ± 15) improved after oct-LAR treatment (70 ± 15) globally for the 28 patients (p < 0.001). Three patients in whom AcroQoL score did not improve over time had severe headaches, which did not disappear. In patients who normalized, both GH (<2.5 μg/L) and IGF-1, AcroQoL score increased on average by 22 points (p = 0.003); when GH and IGF-1 improved, but did not normalize, AcroQol score increased on average by 16 points (p = 0.008). In 6 patients with discordant results, AcroQol score tended to improve if IGF-1 normalized (n = 4, p = 0.066), but not if IGF-1 remained high.

Conclusion: Oct-LAR therapy in acromegaly improved quality of life scores in parallel to biochemical markers, except in patients with severe headaches. The AcroQoL questionnaire is an additional tool to establish therapeutic effectivity.