Somatostatin analogues for neuroendocrine tumours

Somatostatin analogues are medicines that stop your body from making too many hormones Open a glossary item.

Some neuroendocrine tumours (NETs Open a glossary item) make large amounts of hormones. This can cause symptoms. Somatostatin analogues are a possible treatment to reduce and control high hormone levels. This treatment can help with symptoms caused by high hormone levels. It can slow down and control the cancer. It might also reduce the size of your cancer.

Common somatostatin analogue drugs used are octreotide and lanreotide.

Neuroendocrine cancers are a group of cancers that develop in cells of the neuroendocrine system Open a glossary item. You might also hear the term neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN). This means the same as neuroendocrine cancer.

There are 2 key groups of neuroendocrine cancer: 

  • neuroendocrine tumours (NETs Open a glossary item
  • neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs Open a glossary item

NETs and NECs are very different. So it is important to know which one you have. Talk to your doctor or specialist nurse if you are not sure.

Somatostatin analogues are a treatment for NETs. Doctors don't use them to treat NECs.

How somatostatin analogues work

Somatostatin is a hormone made naturally in the body. It is made by:

  • a gland in the brain called the hypothalamus

  • the stomach

  • the pancreas

  • the bowel

Somatostatin does a number of things. It slows down or stops the production of a number of hormones such as insulin and gut hormones. It also controls the emptying of the stomach and bowel. 

A somatostatin analogue is a man made (synthetic) version of somatostatin. It slows down the production of hormones, especially the growth hormone and serotonin. This helps to control the symptoms such as diarrhoea and flushing of the skin. It may also shrink the NET. 

The most common somatostatin analogue drugs used are:

  • octreotide - also known as Sandostatin
  • lanreotide - also known as lanreotide IPSEN

When do you have somatostatin analogues?

Your treatment plan depends on what type of NET you have and your symptoms. You might have somatostatin analogues for a NET if:

  • you have abnormally high levels of hormones causing symptoms
  • you can't have surgery to remove your NET
  • your NET has spread to another part of your body
  • your NET has come back after treatment

You can have somatostatin analogues if your NET picks up somatostatin. Doctors can check for this using special scans. 

The scan checks if your NET has somatostatin receptors (SSRs). SSRs pick up somatostatin. So when you give an injection of somatostatin, it travels around and attaches to these receptors.  

Some NETs don't pick up somatostatin. So not everyone with a NET can have this treatment. 

Somatostatin analogues are not a treatment for neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC).

How you have somatostatin analogues

You usually have somatostatin analogues as an injection under the skin (subcutaneously) or into the muscle (intramuscularly). You usually have treatment every 4 weeks. 

Your nurse usually gives you the injections. You might have it at home, or in the hospital. If you have lanreotide, they may show you or a family member how to give the injections. 

Side effects of somatostatin analogues

Somatostatin analogues do not usually cause many side effects. The most common side effects are:

  • headaches and dizziness

  • loss of appetite

  • feeling or being sick

  • feeling bloated

  • stomach pain

  • tiredness (fatigue)

  • pain at the injection site

  • changes to your blood sugar levels

  • changes to the way your bowel works including diarrhoea, fatty greasy poo and wind

Having somatostatin analogues over many months can cause gallstones. Gallstones are small stones that form in the gallbladder. Gallstones can be picked up on your CT scans Open a glossary item. If you develop symptoms of gallstones, you might have an ultrasound scan Open a glossary item.

Coping

Treatment for neuroendocrine cancer can be difficult to cope with for some people. Your nurse will give you phone numbers to call if you have any problems at home. 

If you have any questions about treatment, you can talk to Cancer Research UK’s information nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

  • How I treat neuroendocrine tumours: A review
    Barbara Kiesewetter and Markus Raderer
    Cancer Horizons, ESMO Open, 2020

  • Physiology of somatostatin and its analogues
    Rodger A Liddle 
    UpToDate, Accessed December 2024

  • Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up
    M Pavel and others
    Annals of Oncology 2020. Volume 31, Issue 5 

  • European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) 2023 guidance paper for digestive neuroendocrine carcinoma
    H Sorbye and others
    Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2023. Volume 35, Issue 3

  • European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) 2023 guidance paper for non functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours
    B Kos-Kudla and others
    Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2023. Volume 35, Issue 12, Page e13343 

Last reviewed: 
07 Feb 2025
Next review due: 
07 Feb 2028

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