Lanreotide

How it works

Copies somatostatin, the body's hormone brake, as a monthly gel that curbs excess growth hormone and slows some gut tumors.

What it's made of

8 amino acids in a ring, copied from the active part of somatostatin, the 14-amino-acid hormone that holds back other hormones. In water it arranges itself into nanotubes.

What it's for

Prescribed for

Acromegaly; advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, to slow their growth; and carcinoid syndrome.