Somatostatin analogs: octreotide (Sandostatin), octreotide LAR (Sandostatin LAR), lanreotide or lanreotide (Autogel; not currently available in the U.S.).

Occasionally, but not usually. Most patients have a macroadenoma (tumor greater than 1 cm) at the time of diagnosis. In this situation, surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible is usually the first treatment. This is particularly important if the tumor is close to the eye nerves (optic chiasm). If the patient cannot undergo surgery, or there is no clear benefit of surgery, medical treatment, preferably with Sandostatin, is used.