Dopamine agonists in the treatment of acromegaly

Dopamine agonists are considered poorly effective in the treatment of acromegaly. However, a meta-analysis of fifteen studies investigating the efficacy of cabergoline found that control of acromegaly was achieved in more than a third of patients.[1] This increased to more than half of patients in those resistant to somatostatin analogues. None of the studies were randomised, placebo controlled. Another study has investigated the effectiveness of cabergoline as an add-on therapy for acromegaly patients resistant to long-acting octreotide.[2] Control of acromegaly, assessed by insulin-like growth factor -1 (IGF-1) levels, was achieved in around 40% of patients. Response was independent of prolactin levels.