Somatostatin analogues have no role in the treatment of advanced differentiated thyroid cancer

Somatostatins are neuropeptides that have a downregulatory effect on various physiological processes. Their use in the management of certain endocrine tumours is well recognized. Their use in thyroid cancer is not established, although there is some evidence to suggest that they have a role in advanced metastatic disease. We report a case of a patient with advanced metastatic follicular thyroid cancer which demonstrated strong octreotide uptake with reduced avidity for I¹³¹. Treatment with the somatostatin analogue octreotide, however, failed to achieve a significant response. We feel this case is important as it suggests that although octreotide provides a useful further imaging modality in differentiated thyroid cancer, it has no therapeutic role.