Treatment of Acromegaly with the Growth Hormone–Receptor Antagonist Pegvisomant

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 342; no. 16; pp. 1171 - 1177
• Main Authors: Trainer, Peter J, Drake, William M, Katznelson, Laurence, Freda, Pamela U, Herman-Bonert, Vivien, van der Lely, A.J, Dimaraki, Eleni V, Stewart, Paul M, Friend, Keith E, Vance, Mary Lee, Besser, G. Michael, Thorner, Michael O, Parkinson, Craig, Klibanski, Anne, Powell, Jeffrey S, Barkan, Ariel L, Sheppard, Michael C, Maldonado, Mario, Rose, D. Roderick, Clemmons, David R, Johannsson, Gudmundur, Bengt-Åke Bengtsson, Bengt-Åke, Stavrou, Stavros, Kleinberg, David L, Cook, David M, Phillips, Lawrence S, Bidlingmaier, Martin, Strasburger, Christian J, Hackett, Suzanne, Zib, Kenneth, Bennett, William F, Davis, Robert J, Scarlett, John A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 20.04.2000
• Subjects: Acromegaly; Acromegaly - blood; Acromegaly - drug therapy; Adenoma; Adenoma - drug therapy; Adenoma - pathology; Adult; adverse effects; analogs & derivatives; antagonists & inhibitors; Autoantibodies; Autoantibodies - blood; Biological and medical sciences; blood; Double-Blind Method; drug therapy; Endocrinology and Diabetes; Endokrinologi och diabetes; Female; Growth hormones; Hormones. Endocrine system; Hospitals; Human Growth Hormone; Human Growth Hormone - adverse effects; Human Growth Hormone - analogs & derivatives; Human Growth Hormone - blood; Human Growth Hormone - immunology; Human Growth Hormone - therapeutic use; Humans; immunology; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I - metabolism; Male; Medical sciences; metabolism; Middle Aged; Mortality; pathology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Pituitary gland; Pituitary Neoplasms; Pituitary Neoplasms - drug therapy; Pituitary Neoplasms - pathology; Receptors; Receptors, Somatotropin - antagonists & inhibitors; Somatotropin; therapeutic use; United Kingdom > UK; New York; United States > US; Endocrinopathy; Human; Chemotherapy; Growth factor receptor; Treatment; Pituitary diseases; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Acromegaly; Antagonist
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200004203421604

Acromegaly is a chronic debilitating disorder resulting from excessive secretion of growth hormone and a resulting increase in the production of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). It is usually caused by somatotroph adenomas of the pituitary gland. The goal of treatment is to reverse the effects of the hypersecretion of growth hormone and normalize production of IGF-I. Effective treatment ameliorates the symptoms and signs of the disease and lowers the mortality rate. The current treatments for acromegaly are surgical removal of the adenoma, radiation therapy, and drug treatment. Among patients treated surgically, only 60 percent of patients overall and less . . .