Keytruda/Chemo/NSCLC9 Aug 2019 14:45
Getting closer to home ?
''Merck & Co/MSD’s Keytruda can be provided via the Cancer Drugs Fund for first-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as part of a regimen with chemotherapy, says NICE. Draft guidance published today by the cost-effectiveness watchdog says that a regimen based on the checkpoint inhibitor plus carboplatin and paclitaxel should now be a treatment option for previously-untreated adults with squamous NSCLC that has spread to other parts of the body. NICE stopped short of approving it for routine NHS prescribing, but acknowledged that trials of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) plus chemotherapy suggest people taking the regimen could live longer than those who have standard chemotherapy alone.
The clinical evidence is however immature, it says, and that means the cost-effectiveness estimates for the combination are “very uncertain,” according to NICE. Keytruda and chemotherapy should be stopped after two years of uninterrupted treatment, or earlier if disease progresses, says the draft guidance.''
https://pharmaphorum.com/news/msds-keytruda-plus-chemo-backed-by-nice-for-lung-cancer/?