Lanreotide dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
In people with advanced neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas, it kept tumours from growing for longer. At two years, 65 percent were still free of tumour growth, against 33 percent on a dummy shot. Very few peptides on this site can point to a real disease result like that.
Evidence grade for Lanreotide: Limited. The rule: people have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. The sum on this page: 1 completed trial, none stating how many people. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 0
- Human studies
- 1
- Found nothing
- 0
Dose
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses
Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose.
FDA-approved for acromegaly, a condition caused by too much growth hormone. Also approved for neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas, to extend the time before the cancer gets worse, and for carcinoid syndrome.
4 effects reported, 3 unwanted, 1 wanted, by people using it, not a trial
Goal pages: Ageing and longevity, Immune system and inflammation
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
Lanreotide is a built copy of somatostatin, the body's off switch for many hormones. It is a shot every four weeks, usually given in a clinic. It is approved for some hormone-making tumours and for acromegaly, where the body makes too much growth hormone.
What people take it for
- Slowing neuroendocrine tumours.
- Cutting growth hormone in acromegaly.
- Easing flushing and diarrhoea from hormone-making tumours.
What studies in people showed
In 204 adults with neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas that had spread, it kept tumours from growing for longer. At two years, 65 percent on it were still free of tumour growth. On a dummy shot, it was 33 percent. People did not live longer or feel better. In acromegaly, it lowers growth hormone and IGF-1.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- In the big tumour trial, tumours stayed in check for longer.
The bad
- Gallstones are common.
- Blood sugar can swing too high or too low.
- Reactions where the needle goes in, and gut problems.
Where these come from: From the tumour trial and drug notes on this page. We have no user reports.
My bottom line
A real drug with a real result. Notice what it is for: cutting growth hormone, because too much of it harms you. Keep that in mind before you buy a peptide that raises it.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Measured in people
Goals Lanreotide has been tested for in people, biggest studies first. We count only what the studies on this page say, so the real numbers may be higher.
- Living longerno headcount stated · 1 study
- Cancer and tumoursno headcount stated · 1 study
34 of the 36 indexed goals have no study of any kind behind Lanreotide
No study in people, animals or cells on this page reports a result for these. That does not prove Lanreotide does nothing for them. It does mean anything you have heard about Lanreotide and one of these did not come from a study cited here.
Show full evidence
What is Lanreotide?
In people with advanced neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas, it kept tumours from growing for longer. At two years, 65 percent were still free of tumour growth, against 33 percent on a dummy shot. Very few peptides on this site can point to a real disease result like that.
Somatostatin is the body's all-purpose off switch. It shuts down growth hormone, insulin, glucagon and most gut juices. The natural hormone lasts only a couple of minutes, so the useful drugs are built copies that last longer. Lanreotide is one of the two that matter most, alongside octreotide.
Its most important result is in cancer. The CLARINET trial took 204 adults with neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas that had spread. They were split by chance to get lanreotide or a dummy shot. On lanreotide, the tumours went longer without growing. At two years, 65 percent were still free of tumour growth, against 33 percent. People did not live longer. That is a real disease result, from a large final-stage trial in the New England Journal of Medicine. It puts lanreotide in a small group of peptides on this site whose evidence is about the disease itself, not a blood marker.
It is also used for acromegaly, where the body makes too much growth hormone and the whole point is to cut it. That is the reverse of what most growth hormone peptides on this site are sold for.
How does Lanreotide work?
Lanreotide is a ring-shaped peptide of eight amino acids, built to copy somatostatin. It sticks strongly to two of somatostatin's receptors, types 2 and 5. It is given as a slow-release depot shot. Switching on those receptors, which are "off" receptors, cuts hormone release from the pituitary and from hormone-making tumour cells. It also slows the gut and cuts gut juices. In these tumours, the brake on growth seems to come from signals straight through the tumour's own receptors, not only from cutting hormone output. That is why it slows tumour growth instead of just easing symptoms.
What have studies in people found about Lanreotide?
A big record as an approved drug for three uses, anchored by a large final-stage trial that tracked how long tumours went without growing.
- CLARINET, 204 adults with gut and pancreas neuroendocrine tumours that had spread: at two years, 65 percent on lanreotide were still free of tumour growth, against 33 percent on a dummy shot. People did not live longer.
- Approved for acromegaly, where it cuts growth hormone and IGF-1.
- Approved for carcinoid syndrome, easing the flushing and diarrhoea caused by hormone-making tumours.
- Gallstones are a known result of slowing the gallbladder. They are common enough to expect, not rare.
- Blood sugar can go too high or too low, because the drug cuts both insulin and glucagon.
- Reactions where the needle goes in, and gut problems, are common.
What this does not tell you: Time without tumour growth is a real result. It is not the same as living longer. That matters in cancer, because a drug can delay growth on scans without adding life. The acromegaly evidence is about a disease of too much growth hormone. So it tells you nothing useful about growth hormone boosters sold for the opposite purpose. Also, the deep depot shot is usually given in a clinic, not at home.
The state of the research
Lanreotide earns a page partly as a yardstick. This site covers many peptides whose best evidence is a blood marker in twenty people. This one has a large final-stage trial, with a dummy shot for comparison, that tracked the disease itself, in the New England Journal of Medicine. It helps to see what that looks like next to the rest.
It also flips a common belief here. Much of the grey market for growth hormone peptides rests on the idea that more growth hormone is better as you age. Lanreotide is approved to cut growth hormone. In acromegaly, too much of it causes heart muscle disease, diabetes, joint damage and early death. Growth hormone is not something where more is simply better.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
1study in people cited, but none says how many people took part
number of people not stated
We do not draw a total, because none of the studies in people on this page gives one. Read the sources below for what each study measured.
We read the number of people from the source lines on this page. Where a line gives no number, we count nothing for it. We do not guess.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
All 1 source here is a study in people.
- Study in people · done in people1100%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
Every source here was published in 2014.
Too few different years on this page to draw a timeline. The newest source on file is from 2014, more than five years ago. Research on it may have gone quiet.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Approved
UK
Approved
AU
Approved
CA
Approved
Approved in all four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Peptide
- Molecule weight
- Roughly 1.1 kDa. A cyclic octapeptide.
- Half-life
- About 3.8 weeksVery long, weeks+
- Chain length
- None on file
Half-life as stated on file: Roughly 23 to 30 days from the prolonged-release depot formulation, so it is dosed every four weeks by deep subcutaneous injection.
No amino acid sequence is on file for Lanreotide, so none is drawn rather than guessed from a name.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2014Lanreotide in metastatic enteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
Lanreotide slowed these tumours down, and that is a rare thing for a peptide to prove. 204 adults with advanced neuroendocrine tumours were split by chance. Half had a lanreotide shot every 28 days for up to two years. Half had a dummy shot, and nobody involved knew which. At two years, 65% of the lanreotide group were still free of tumour growth, against 33% on the dummy shot. People did not live longer and did not feel better. Ipsen, which sells the drug, paid for the trial.
The CLARINET randomised phase 3 in metastatic enteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, showing prolonged progression-free survival on lanreotide. A hard clinical endpoint in a randomised trial, which very few peptides documented on this site can claim.
Where to buy Lanreotide
Lanreotide is an approved medicine. The approved product comes from a pharmacy, with a prescription. The vials below are sold “for research” and are not the approved drug.
1 seller lists Lanreotide in our latest read. They are ranked by trust score, then by archive rating, then by certificate tier, then by the lowest price per milligram. Archive evidence is counted before source-backed. Each path is out of 4, and the two are not added. A higher price does not raise the score. The letter is the certificate chip. 0 of them have a published certificate that names Lanreotide.
Some seller links may pay this site when you buy through them. A payment never changes a seller's tier or rank, and no seller has a say in any page.
| Seller | Trust score | Vial sizes | From, per mg | Certificate for Lanreotide | Seller link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Molecules | 28 InsufficientSource-backed 1 of 4. Archive evidence 1 of 4.C | 10 mg | $47.3 | None found for Lanreotide | View |
- LC Lab-confirmed: the issuing laboratory echoed this certificate back
- A Current certificate, independent laboratory named, laboratory not yet checked
- B Certificate published, but no laboratory link, older than a year, or the laboratory did not recognise the published lookup
- C No certificate could be read
Every listing and vial size for Lanreotide · How the trust score is counted
Sellers named on the price pages are ranked by certificate tier, then price, and any affiliate income is disclosed there. Naming a seller is not a recommendation to buy or use anything.
Common questions
Has Lanreotide been tested in people?
Yes. 0 people given it across 1 completed trial cited here, 0 of which found nothing. In people with advanced neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas, it kept tumours from growing for longer. At two years, 65 percent were still free of tumour growth, against 33 percent on a dummy shot. Very few peptides on this site can point to a real disease result like that.
What is the Lanreotide dosage?
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses. Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose. FDA-approved for acromegaly, a condition caused by too much growth hormone. Also approved for neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas, to extend the time before the cancer gets worse, and for carcinoid syndrome.
Is Lanreotide FDA-approved?
FDA-approved for acromegaly, a condition caused by too much growth hormone. Also approved for neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas, to extend the time before the cancer gets worse, and for carcinoid syndrome.
Does lanreotide treat cancer?
It slows the growth of neuroendocrine tumours of the gut and pancreas that have spread. A large final-stage trial showed that, measuring how long tumours went without growing. That is not the same as living longer, which the trial did not show.
How is it different from octreotide?
Both are built copies of somatostatin that hit the same main receptors. The practical differences are the form and how often it is given. Lanreotide is a deep shot under the skin every four weeks. No trial shows one works better than the other for the uses they share.
Why would anyone suppress growth hormone?
Because in acromegaly, too much growth hormone causes heart muscle disease, diabetes, joint damage and a shorter life. That is worth knowing next to the growth hormone boosters elsewhere on this site, which are sold on the idea that raising growth hormone as you age is good.