abstract |
Disclosed are methods and compositions for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases associated with aberrant expression of a somatostatin receptor (e.g., cancer) or with increased production of a factor regulatable by somatostatin (e.g., acromegaly). The compounds of the invention are of the general formulae: <IMAGE> wherein P is a somatostatin peptide analog which binds to a somatostatin receptor, Y is D-tyrosine, L-tyrosine, or desamino-tyrosine, n is an integer from 1 to 32, inclusive, each q, independently, is an integer from 1 to 32, inclusive, and each s, independently, is an integer from 1 to 32, inclusive, where q and s can be the same or different, and X is of the formulaD-NH2-CH(CH2)mNH2-CO2H orL-NH2-CH(CH2)mNH2-CO2H,wherein m is an integer from 1 to 10, inclusive. |