Keytruda gets NICE endorsement for Cancer Drugs Fund

The UK's National Institute for Care and Health Excellence (NICE) has issued confirmation today that it recommends the use of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) for untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in adults, where chemotherapy is unavailable.

Keytruda is already the only immunotherapy that has been recommended by the NICE for inclusion in the CDF for urothelial cancer patients who have failed on platinum-containing chemotherapy. This latest decision follows new evidence showing the efficacy of the drug in treating a variety of cancers.

Urothelial cancer is the most common form of bladder cancer and accounts for more than 90% of cases. Bladder cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the UK and the fourth most common in men, yet it remains an underfunded area of research, with half of patients diagnosed going on to die from the disease.