Groundbreaking Research Offers New Hope for Lung Cancer Patients

Recent research offers new hope for lung cancer patients: The drug KEYTRUDA has led to the complete disappearance of metastatic lung cancer in some patients. Many more patients responded significantly better to KEYTRUDA than to chemotherapy.

This is a groundbreaking study conducted among approximately 300 patients worldwide, including dozens of Israelis. The research was published this week in the medical journal, "New England Journal of Medicine", and was presented by the research physicians at the annual European Cancer Conference.

Within the study, half of the patients were treated with KEYTRUDA as the initial treatment for the disease, while the rest received chemotherapy. The study's findings indicated that the group treated with KEYTRUDA enjoyed a significant advantage in all metrics.

Prof. Nir Peled, who conducted the research in Israel, told "Israel Hayom" that "this research is a milestone in the world of oncology and we have no doubt that we are at the dawn of a new era. The total number of patients responding to treatment was almost double among KEYTRUDA-treated patients, 45% compared to 28%, and the total number of patients who survived for one year was 70% with KEYTRUDA compared to 54% with other patients. Among those responding to KEYTRUDA are also patients whose disease disappeared completely."

This is an immunotherapy drug that succeeds in getting the body's immune system to destroy or reduce the cancerous tumor. The drug is administered via intravenous infusion once every three weeks. The cost of the drug is very high, estimated at around 40,000 shekels per patient per month. In addition to its positive effects, the drug has many side effects such as weakness, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, joint and muscle pain, kidney failure, and liver inflammation. However, given its proven research success, it is quite likely that this drug is preferred over chemotherapy.

The surprising results of the research prompted the FDA, the American Food and Drug Administration, to order all patients to be treated solely with KEYTRUDA. In 2017, the Israeli Ministry of Health will discuss whether to include KEYTRUDA in the health basket.