The somatostatin receptor 2 is expressed in most tumors.[11] Patients with neuroendocrine tumors that over-express the somatostatin receptor 2 have an improved prognosis.[12] The over expression of SSTR2 in tumors can be exploited to selectively deliver radio-peptides to tumors to either detect or destroy them.[13] Somatostatin receptor 2 also has the ability to stimulate apoptosis in many cells including cancer cells.[14] The somatostatin receptor 2 is also being looked at as a possible target in cancer treatment for its ability to inhibit tumor growth.[15]
^"Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^"Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^Yamada Y, Stoffel M, Espinosa R, Xiang KS, Seino M, Seino S, et al. (February 1993). "Human somatostatin receptor genes: localization to human chromosomes 14, 17, and 22 and identification of simple tandem repeat polymorphisms". Genomics. 15 (2): 449–52. doi:10.1006/geno.1993.1088. PMID8449518.
^Reubi JC, Waser B, Schaer JC, Laissue JA (July 2001). "Somatostatin receptor sst1-sst5 expression in normal and neoplastic human tissues using receptor autoradiography with subtype-selective ligands". European Journal of Nuclear Medicine. 28 (7): 836–46. doi:10.1007/s002590100541. PMID11504080. S2CID8727308.
^Teijeiro R, Rios R, Costoya JA, Castro R, Bello JL, Devesa J, et al. (2002). "Activation of human somatostatin receptor 2 promotes apoptosis through a mechanism that is independent from induction of p53". Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry. 12 (1): 31–8. doi:10.1159/000047824. PMID11914546. S2CID33281755.