Hundreds of women living with aggressive forms of cervical cancer are set to receive a new treatment option that could significantly improve their chances of survival. Pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy drug that harnesses the body's own immune system to fight cancer, has been approved by NICE for patients with stage 3 or 4 locally advanced cervical cancer.
This breakthrough comes after clinical trials showed promising results when pembrolizumab was combined with standard chemoradiotherapy. For patients receiving this dual treatment, nearly seven in ten (68%) were still alive without their cancer progressing two years into the treatment, compared to 57% of those who only received chemoradiotherapy. Furthermore, a staggering 82.6% of patients on the combined regimen remained alive three years post-treatment, outpacing the 74.8% survival rate in the control group.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer, describes this development as one of the most significant advances in cervical cancer treatment in recent times. He highlights how the immunotherapy enabled the body's immune system to target cancer cells more effectively. With around 3,300 new cervical cancer diagnoses each year and approximately 550 patients in England set to be eligible for pembrolizumab over the next two years (equating to about 270 annually), this news offers hope for many women with aggressive forms of the disease.
The treatment is administered via infusion or injection, leveraging a faster injectable version of pembrolizumab recently introduced by the NHS. This swift access to treatment has commenced immediately, thanks to funding from NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund. Cervical cancer is the 14th most common cancer among women in the UK.
Source: NHS England