Longest follow up trial of Merck’s Keytruda sets new standard for five year survival in lung cancer
pharmafile | June 3, 2019 | News story | Sales and Marketing | KEYNOTE, MSD, Merck, keytruda, lung cancer
Nearly a quarter of previously untreated lung cancer patients who took Keytruda (Pembrolizumab) were alive after five years, according to the results of the longest follow-up trial for Merck’s cancer immunotherapy.
In total, 23.2% of treatment naïve patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were alive after five years.
The data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE trial of 616 patients showed that 23.2% of previously untreated and 15.5% of previously treated patients lived for more than five years after receiving MSD’s immunotherapy.
“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and historically, the five-year survival rate has been around 5% for patients in the U.S. with advanced non-small cell lung cancer,” said Edward B. Garon, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles.
“As a treating physician, it is encouraging to see the results of KEYNOTE-001, in which pembrolizumab showed a five-year overall survival rate of 23.2% in treatment-naïve patients and 15.5% in previously treated patients.”
Among 60 patients who received two or more years of treatment with Keytruda, the five year overall survival rate was 78.6% in treatment naïve patients and 75.8% in previously treated patients.
“Five-year survival is a significant milestone for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, and it is encouraging to see the long-term overall survival rates from our first KEYNOTE study,” said Dr. Roy Baynes, senior vice president and chief medical officer, Merck Research Laboratories.
“These five-year data provide important insights into the long-term safety and efficacy of KEYTRUDA in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.”
Louis Goss
Related Content
Roche’s Alecensa approved by FDA as lung cancer treatment
Roche has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Alecensa (alectinib) …
TILT Biotherapeutics shares data on TILT-123 with Keytruda for ovarian cancer treatment
TILT Biotherapeutics has announced promising preliminary safety and efficacy data from its ongoing phase 1 …
FDA clears Oryzon’s phase 1/2 trial for lung cancer treatment
Oryzon Genomics has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its …
