NICE recommends MSD’s Keytruda in combination with chemotherapy for lung cancer
pharmafile | February 4, 2021 | News story | | Cancer, MSD
NICE has recommended MSD’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy (pembrolizumab combination) as a first-line option for untreated, metastatic, non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults whose tumours have no epidermal growth factor receptor-positive or anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive mutations, and whether or not tumours are PD-L1 positive.
Clinical evidence collected while pembrolizumab combination was in the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) shows that people receiving pembrolizumab combination for up to two years are likely to live longer than those who have only pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy.
Before the new regimen entered the CDF, late stage metastatic NSCLC patients could only access pembrolizumab depending on the PD-L1 biomarker status of their tumours. The treatment’s KEYNOTE-189 trial demonstrated efficacy in both populations with and without PD-L1 expression.
Dr Riyaz Shah, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, said: “This recommendation from NICE to continue access for patients comes just a week after further data were presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer from a trial involving this regimen, which saw 31% of patients still alive after three years versus 17% on standard chemotherapy – a significant change in the outlook for patients with one of the UK’s most deadly cancers.
“Pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy regardless of PD-L1 biomarker status has been an important step forward for patients in a disease area where the majority of patients don’t typically survive more than seven to 10 months from diagnosis.”
David Long, Oncology Business Unit Director at MSD, added: “We really welcome this latest decision from NICE to approve the continued use of pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy for these lung cancer patients.
“That these patients across the UK are now going to routinely have treatment options irrespective of their PD-L1 biomarker status is important for the patient and clinical community alike. This is yet another example of a successful working relationship between MSD, NICE, and NHS England to sustain timely access to the latest innovations in cancer care.
“This is doubly significant at a time when we know, due to the impact of COVID-19 on patient presentation, the system is seeing an increase in the diagnosis of later stage cancers – especially in lung cancer. It is therefore all the more important that clinicians have the best choices available for their patients.”
Darcy Jimenez
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