Lung cancer drug Keytruda use shows significant survival rates in patients with advanced tumors: study

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A study conducted by U.S. drug firm Merck found that administering Keytruda to patients with advanced stages of lung cancer significantly improved their chances of survival, according Reuters.

Administered as an intravenous infusion over 30 minutes every three weeks, those patients who took the recommended 2 milligram dosage of Keytruda and those prescribed with an experimental 10 milligram dose lived longer compared to patients taking docetaxel, a standard treatment for non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). More than 1,000 patients with NSCLC participated in the study. Tumor response was evaluated after the first 12 weeks of the study, then every 6 weeks thereafter.

"The results from this trial provide part of a growing body of evidence supporting the potential of Keytruda in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer," said Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories, in a statement released by the pharmaceutical company.

"Advancing the standard of care in cancer requires a collaborative effort, and we are grateful to the patients, institutions and caregivers who participated in this study. We look forward to sharing our complete data with the scientific community and with regulatory agencies in the near future."

Merck also reported that patients with tumors that produced high levels of PD-L1, a protein associated with increased NSCLC risk, experienced a slower progression of the disease compared to those taking docetaxel.

Like Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's Opdivo, Keytruda is an antibody designed to prevent the interaction between PD-L1 and another protein, PD-1, whose main purpose is to regulate the immune system. Blocking the interaction enables the cancer patient's immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells on its own.

A more detailed report on the study will be provided by Merck, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be adding new information to the drug's package insert later this year. Keytruda's current label says that an improvement in patient survival or disease-related symptoms has not yet been established and will be subject to results of confirmatory trials.

According to Merck, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. More people die of lung cancer each year than of of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. The disease, which usually forms within cells lining the air passages, has two types: non small cell and small cell. NSCLC is the more prevalent type, accounting for about 85 percent of all cases. At present, there's only a four percent chance that patients suffering from highly advanced, metastatic (Stage IV) lung cancer will live for another 5 years.