New drug treatments show promise for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients

A drug taken to treat a rare condition could also extend the life of some ovarian cancer patients, a trial has suggested.

Published in The Lancet medical journal and presented at the SGO 2026 annual meeting on women's cancer, the study says relacorilant, a pill currently used to treat Cushing's syndrome, could benefit patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

On average, patients with this treatment-resistant cancer only live for around one year to 18 months after diagnosis.

Women are deemed to have it if their disease progresses within six months of having platinum-based chemotherapy - a standard treatment.

Researchers studied data from 381 platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients and found those taking relacorilant were 35% less likely to die compared to those receiving usual care.

The study suggested that patients taking the pill lived for an average of 16 months, compared to 11.9 months for those who had usual care.

Authors said: "These outcomes - a 35% reduction of the risk of death from any cause and a median overall survival improvement of 4.1 months-position relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel as a new standard treatment option for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer."

It comes as another study, also published in the Lancet and presented to SGO 2026, suggested pembrolizumab - an immunotherapy cancer drug - can improve survival odds among women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

They examined data on 643 women and found that, on average, patients who took pembrolizumab, as well as usual care, lived for 17.7 months while those who had usual care alone survived for an average of 14 months.

The research team said the findings "support this regimen as a new standard of care".

According to Cancer Research UK, there are around 7,600 new ovarian cancer cases in the UK every year. It's not known how many of those are platinum-resistant.

Meanwhile, the NHS says that Cushing's syndrome is a rare condition caused by having too much of a hormone called cortisol in your body.

Cushing's disease - the most common cause for the syndrome - is diagnosed in around 1.3-1.5 people per million a year, according to the Pituitary Foundation.