New cancer drug available after receiving NICE approval

Lung cancer patients given new drug hope A new lung cancer treatment has been made available on the Cancer Drugs Fund after receiving NICE approval. immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (also known as Keytruda) used with chemotherapy drugs carboplatin and paclitaxel will now be an option for adults with squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which has spread to other parts of the body and who haven’t had any previous treatments. Pembrolizumab works by targeting a specific protein on the surface of cells which is involved in the body’s immune response to cancer. Evidence from an ongoing clinical trial suggests that people who