A drug originally developed for a rare hormonal condition has been shown to extend survival in patients with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer, according to a clinical trial published in The Lancet.
The study involved 381 patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, a form where the disease progresses within six months of platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients receiving relacorilant, a pill used for Cushing's syndrome, had a 35% reduction in the risk of death compared to those on usual care, living on average four months longer.
Another trial of 643 patients found that the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab extended survival to 17.7 months, compared to 14 months with usual care alone. Both drugs are at phase 3 and require further testing for UK approval, though they are already approved in the US.
Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer among women in the UK, with around 7,600 new cases and 3,900 deaths annually.
