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Dopamine agonist therapy of clinically non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas. Is there a role for ¹²³I-epidepride dopamine D2 receptor imaging?

¹ Departments of Internal Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, ² Nuclear Medicine and ³ Radiology Erasmus MC, S Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands

(Correspondence should be addressed to W W de Herder; Email: w.w.deherder{at}erasmusmc.nl)

Objective: Clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) can express functional dopamine D2 receptors. Therapy with dopamine (DA) agonists may result in a NFPA size reduction. However, DA agonist-sensitive and -resistant NFPAs are clinically indistinguishable. We have studied the correlation between in vivo imaging of D2 receptors using ¹²³I-epidepride and the radiological response of NFPA to DA in 18 patients.

Methods: Patients were treated with either cabergoline (1–2 mg/week) or quinagolide (150–300 µg/day) for a mean period of 89.7 months (range, 34–187 months).

Results: Pituitary uptake of ¹²³I-epidepride varied from slight uptake classified as grade 0 to very high classified as grade 3. Grade 0 uptake was found in four patients; grade 1 in three; grade 2 in ten, and grade 3 in one. NFPA stabilization or shrinkage with DA agonist therapy showed no significant difference between grade 0, 1, and 2 tumors (mean tumor stabilization or shrinkage: 31, 30, and 36% respectively). However, when we considered a decrease in tumor size ranging from 0 to 20% as tumor stabilization and >20% decrease in tumor size as true shrinkage, one out of four NFPAs with grade 1 uptake, two out of three with grade 1 uptake, and eight out of ten with grade 2 uptake showed tumor shrinkage.

Conclusion: In conclusion, there is limited clinical usefulness of dopamine D2 receptor imaging for predicting the clinical efficacy of DA agonist in selected patients with NFPAs. DA agonist therapy in NFPAs can result in tumor stabilization and shrinkage.

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