PMOS specialist Melbourne

In May 2026, after a 14-year global consensus process involving more than 22,000 patients and health professionals across 56 patient and professional organisations, PCOS was officially renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) in a landmark paper published in The Lancet. On 12 May 2026, a landmark paper published in The Lancet officially renamed polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS. It’s one letter different in the acronym.

The change reflects a better understanding of the condition’s true nature. The term PCOS was considered inaccurate, implying pathological ovarian cysts, obscuring diverse endocrine and metabolic features, and contributing to delayed diagnosis, fragmented care, and stigma. The new name better reflects the condition’s effects across multiple systems, including metabolism, reproductive health and mental health.

What’s changing and what isn’t:

• The condition itself hasn’t changed – only the name and the framing around it.
• “Ovarian” was kept because the ovaries remain central, but “polycystic” – which focused on cysts, has been dropped.
• “Polyendocrine” and “metabolic” highlight that this is a whole-body hormonal and metabolic condition, not just an ovarian one.
• The new terminology captures endocrine, metabolic, and ovarian dysfunction that drives infertility, menstrual irregularity, and long-term cardiometabolic morbidity.
• PMOS terminology will roll out gradually over the next few years, so you’ll see both names used during the transition period.

At Create Fertility, we’re committed to keeping our patients informed as this transition takes place, while continuing to provide the same evidence-based, comprehensive care for PCOS/PMOS that we always have.