The NHS is set to offer a new treatment for some women with resistant ovarian cancer after NICE recommended mirvetuximab soravtansine, also known as Elahere, for patients whose disease no longer responds to standard chemotherapy within six months of treatment.
NICE said the medicine is aimed at folate receptor-alpha-positive platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. The announcement, published on 4 June 2026, marks the first new NHS treatment in more than 20 years for this type of ovarian cancer.
A targeted approach for a difficult-to-treat cancer
Unlike chemotherapy, mirvetuximab soravtansine is described as a targeted therapy that seeks out a specific protein found on the surface of cancer cells and delivers a cancer-killing medicine directly to them. NICE said the treatment could offer a different approach for patients who have already exhausted standard options.
Women who took part in the evaluation said the difference between the two treatments could be significant in daily life. NICE said chemotherapy often requires frequent hospital visits and can cause severe side effects including extreme fatigue, hair loss, nausea and long-term nerve damage, while mirvetuximab soravtansine is given once every three weeks and has a more manageable side-effect profile. NICE announcement
What the recommendation means for patients
The recommendation means eligible patients in England could soon access a treatment that has been described as offering a new approach after a long period with limited options. NICE said the decision follows its evaluation of the therapy for women with platinum-resistant disease, a form of ovarian cancer that stops responding to standard chemotherapy.
For patients and clinicians, the ruling may also reduce the burden of repeated hospital visits, while giving some women a treatment that is designed to act more precisely on cancer cells. NICE said the treatment will be available through the NHS for those who meet the specified criteria. NICE announcement
The recommendation adds to a series of recent NHS cancer treatment decisions, but in this case it addresses a condition where progress has been slow and choices have remained limited for many years. For women facing resistant ovarian cancer, the new option could offer a welcome change in both treatment delivery and day-to-day experience.
