Successful Treatment of Acromegaly: Metabolic and Clinical Studies in 145 Patients

Abstract

The successful treatment of acromegaly, a disorder related to hyperfunction of the pituitary gland and first described in 1886 by Marie, has long been sought. The relative insensitivity of the pituitary gland to externally delivered radiation is well known, and the endresults of treatment with conventional radiation have been relatively unsatisfactory—long periods of relief of signs and symptoms have not often been achieved and life expectancy has not been good. Surgical hypophysectomy, pituitary implants using gold-198 or yttrium-90, and cryohypophysectomy have recently been used with considerable success. Thirteen yr ago, after more than 20 yr of radiobiologic research with heavy particles, we started using high-energy protons, and later the 910-MeV alpha-particle beam from a cyclotron to treat patients with acromegaly.¹ One hundred twenty patients have been treated, and we have achieved relief of symptoms and signs and a return to normal of elevated growthhormone levels and other metabolic abnormalities as measured by glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance. With reversal of the metabolic picture, it is reasonable to expect extension of life span.