How are growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 reported as markers for drug effectiveness in clinical acromegaly research? A comprehensive methodologic review

Michiel J. van Esdonk, Eline J. M. van Zutphen, Ferdinand Roelfsema, Alberto M. Pereira, Piet H. van der Graaf, Nienke R. Biermasz, Jasper Stevens, Jacobus Burggraaf

In rare disease research, most randomized prospective clinical trials can only use limited number of patients and are comprised of highly heterogeneous populations. Therefore, it is crucial to report the results in such a manner that it allows for comparison of treatment effectiveness and biochemical control between studies. The aim of this review was to investigate the current methods that are being applied to measure and report growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) as markers for drug effectiveness in clinical acromegaly research.