# Platinum-sensitive / platinum-resistant

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/platinum-sensitivity/  
OnCo record `platinum-sensitivity` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Whether a cancer that responded to platinum chemotherapy came back more than six months later (sensitive, so platinum can be used again) or sooner (resistant, so something else is needed). The dividing line shapes ovarian and small-cell lung cancer treatment.

## Summary

In ovarian cancer, relapse ≥6 months after platinum is treated with another platinum doublet, often followed by PARP maintenance, and secondary cytoreduction may help; relapse within 6 months (resistant) or during treatment (refractory) has response rates under 15% to single agents and is where mirvetuximab (folate receptor alpha), and trials of new ADCs, are focused. Small-cell lung cancer uses a 90-day cut-off for platinum-etoposide rechallenge. 'Platinum-ineligible' (kidney function, hearing, neuropathy) defines a treatment pathway in bladder cancer. Platinum-resistance mechanisms include restored homologous recombination (BRCA reversion) and drug efflux.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: platinum-sensitive; platinum sensitive; platinum-resistant; platinum resistant; platinum-refractory; platinum-free interval; PFI; platinum-eligible; platinum-ineligible; platinum-pretreated; post-platinum; platinum doublet; platinum-based; platinum-based chemotherapy; platinum doublets; platinum-etoposide; carboplatin-paclitaxel; platinum resistance

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum-based_antineoplastic
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum-based_antineoplastic

## Connected records

- terms: [BRCA reversion mutations](https://onco.cc/terms/brca-reversion-mutations/), [Doublet, triplet and quadruplet regimens](https://onco.cc/terms/doublet-triplet/), [Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)](https://onco.cc/terms/hrd/), [Rechallenge and retreatment](https://onco.cc/terms/rechallenge/), [Relapsed / refractory (R/R)](https://onco.cc/terms/relapsed-refractory/)
- cancers: [Bladder & urothelial cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/urothelial/), [BRCA or PALB2-mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/brca-palb2-pdac/), [Extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/extensive-stage-sclc/), [Metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/metastatic-pdac/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/), [Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic/), [Small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/sclc/)
- fronts: [Chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/chemotherapy/)
- technologies: [Platinum agents](https://onco.cc/technologies/platinum/)
- drugs: [Carboplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/carboplatin/), [Cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/cisplatin/)
- key papers: [Whole genomes redefine the mutational landscape of pancreatic cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-waddell-whole-genomes-pancreatic-nature-2015/)
- roadmaps: [Pancreatic cancer roadmap: from Whipple's operation to gemcitabine, FOLFIRINOX, adjuvant chemotherapy, PARP inhibition, KRAS inhibition, vaccines and the surveillance question](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/pancreatic-roadmap/)
- biomarkers: [Folate receptor alpha expression (FRα-positive, PS2+ >= 75%)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/folr1-expression/), [HRD-positive (genomic instability score)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/hrd-positive/)

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