After UCLA-led tests, immunotherapy drug approved by FDA to treat lung cancer

Pembrolizumab, a drug that has already been proven to extend the lives of people with advanced melanoma, has now been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The study, the largest published research to date using immunotherapy to treat lung cancer, was conducted at UCLA and 29 other sites in the U.S., Europe and Australia. “The approval of this drug and a test to identify patients most likely to benefit has the potential to transform the way that lung cancer is treated,” said Dr. Edward Garon, the study’s principal investigator and a researcher at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The quality and duration of disease response that was seen in the trial had previously been extremely rare in lung cancer. For people battling this deadly disease, this approach provides real hope of long-lasting responses while avoiding the toxicities of typical chemotherapy.” The drug, which is marketed under the brand name Keytruda, was tested on approximately 500 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Because so many of the patients in the study showed significant long-lasting responses, in October 2014 the FDA granted the drug “breakthrough therapy” status for use in lung cancer, allowing it to be fast-tracked for approval. Keytruda is an antibody that targets the protein PD-1, which is expressed by immune cells. When it binds to the another protein called PD-L1, PD-1 acts as an immune checkpoint, dampening t...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news