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  • Primer
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Acromegaly

Nature Reviews Disease Primers volume 5, Article number: 20 (2019) Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 21 October 2019

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Abstract

Acromegaly is characterized by increased release of growth hormone and, consequently, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF1), most often by a pituitary adenoma. Prolonged exposure to excess hormone leads to progressive somatic disfigurement and a wide range of systemic manifestations that are associated with increased mortality. Although considered a rare disease, recent studies have reported an increased incidence of acromegaly owing to better disease awareness, improved diagnostic tools and perhaps a real increase in prevalence. Acromegaly treatment approaches, which include surgery, radiotherapy and medical therapy, have changed considerably over time owing to improved surgical procedures, development of new radiotherapy techniques and availability of new medical therapies. The optimal use of these treatments will reduce mortality in patients with acromegaly to levels in the general population. Medical therapy is currently an important treatment option and can even be the first-line treatment in patients with acromegaly who will not benefit from or are not suitable for first-line neurosurgical treatment. Pharmacological treatments include somatostatin receptor ligands (such as octreotide, lanreotide and pasireotide), dopamine agonists and the growth hormone receptor antagonist pegvisomant. In this Primer, we review the main aspects of acromegaly, including scientific advances that underlie expanding knowledge of disease pathogenesis, improvements in disease management and new medical therapies that are available and in development to improve disease control.

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Fig. 1: Timeline of the major discoveries in acromegaly research.
Fig. 2: The main clinical features of acromegaly.
Fig. 3: Causes of acromegaly.
Fig. 4: Signalling pathways disrupted in pituitary tumours.
Fig. 5: Progressive changes in facial appearance in a patient with acromegaly.
Fig. 6: Pituitary MRI in a patient with acromegaly showing a pituitary macroadenoma.
Fig. 7: Pituitary MRI in a patient with acromegaly secondary to ectopic secretion of GHRH from a bronchial neuroendocrine tumour.
Fig. 8: A proposed algorithm for the treatment of acromegaly.
Fig. 9: A personalized approach to acromegaly management.
Fig. 10: Prediction of SRL response on the basis of MRI characteristics.

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Article 19 May 2022

Layal Chaker, Salman Razvi, … Robin P. Peeters

Change history

  • 21 October 2019

    An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

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Reviewer information

Nature Reviews Disease Primers thanks M. Buchfelder, S. Webb and J. Jorgensen, and other anonymous reviewer(s), for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia, Sezione di Endocrinologia, University Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Annamaria Colao, Ludovica F. S. Grasso & Rosario Pivonello

  2. Chair of Endocrinology, San Raffaele Vita-Salute University, Milano, Italy

    Andrea Giustina

  3. Pituitary Center, Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Shlomo Melmed

  4. Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Service d’Endocrinologie et des Maladies de la Reproduction, Centre de Référence des Maladies Endocriniennes Rares de la Croissance, Hôpital Bicêtre, Paris, France

    Philippe Chanson

  5. UMR S-1185, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Sud 11, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France

    Philippe Chanson

  6. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Center for Endocrine Tumors, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Alberto M. Pereira

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  1. Annamaria Colao
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Contributions

Introduction (A.C. and L.F.S.G.); Epidemiology (A.G.); Mechanisms/pathophysiology (S.M.); Diagnosis, screening and prevention (P.C.); Management (L.F.S.G. and R.P.); Quality of life (A.M.P.); Outlook (A.C.); Overview of Primer (A.C.).

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Correspondence to Annamaria Colao.

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Competing interests

P.C. has received unrestricted research and educational grants from Ipsen, Novartis and Pfizer as Head of the Department of Endocrinology and Reproductive Diseases, Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris-Sud. P.C. has served as an investigator (principal or coordinator) for clinical trials funded by Antisense, Chiasma, Ipsen,, Italfarmaco, Novartis and Pfizer. P.C. is a member of advisory boards from Ipsen and Novartis. P.C. gave lectures for Ipsen, Novartis and Pfizer. All the fees and honoraria were paid to his institution. S.M. receives investigator-initiated research grants from Ono and Pfizer to his institution. S.M. serves as a consultant for Chiasma, Ionis and Ipsen. A.C. has been a principal investigator of research studies from Ipsen, Lilly, Novartis and Pfizer; has received research grants from Ferring, Ipsen, Lilly, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk and Pfizer; has been an occasional consultant for Ipsen, Novartis and Pfizer; and has received fees and honoraria from Ipsen, Novartis and Pfizer. R.P. has been principal investigator of research studies for HRA Pharma and Novartis; has received research grants from Novartis, IBSA, Ipsen, Pfizer and ViroPharma; has been an occasional consultant for Ferring, Ipsen, Italfarmaco, Novartis, Pfizer, and ViroPharma; and received lecture fees and honoraria from Novartis, Pfizer and Shire. A.G. is a consultant for Ipsen, Novartis and Pfizer. L.F.S.G. and A.M.P. declare no competing interests.

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Colao, A., Grasso, L.F.S., Giustina, A. et al. Acromegaly. Nat Rev Dis Primers 5, 20 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-019-0071-6

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