Can acromegaly be controlled in all cases?

Abstract

Acromegaly is a rare disease, due in most of the cases to a growth hormone (GH)‐secreting pituitary adenoma (PA), namely neuroendocrine tumour (PitNET). The treatment of patients with acromegaly is multimodal and multi‐step, including surgery, medical therapies, and radiotherapy. In the last 30 years, the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of acromegaly has progressively increased, and the therapeutic algorithm has been significantly modified through the identification of clinical, biochemical, and molecular biomarkers of treatment outcome. The personalization of acromegaly treatment has shifted the paradigm from a ‘trial‐and‐error’ to a ‘target‐to‐treat’ treatment approach to achieve early disease control and to reduce the risk of disease‐related comorbidities that may lead to an increased mortality. Nevertheless, despite the numerous improvements in the treatment of patients with acromegaly, disease control is not achieved in all patients, according to the results of randomized clinical trials, interventional studies, and prospective and retrospective observational studies. In parallel, the normalization of GH and IGF‐I levels may not be sufficient to control acromegaly related symptoms and prevent disease‐related comorbidities. In this review, we will report on the most recent aims of treatment and cure in patients with acromegaly, on the efficacy and predictors of response to conventional treatments (such as first‐ and second‐generation somatostatin receptor ligands and growth hormone receptor antagonist). A specific section will focus on the rarer aggressive disease pictures and on the treatment with systemic therapies (such as temozolomide and capecitabine) and on target therapies (such as neo‐angiogenesis and immune checkpoint inhibitors).