Gastric or gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) cancer constitutes the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and more therapeutic options are needed. In results from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-062 study, published last week in JAMA Oncology, Kohei Shitara, MD, and colleagues reported that in patients with previously untreated G/GEJ cancer with a programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) of 1 or greater, pembrolizumab, alone or in combination with chemotherapy, was nonin...

Data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-062 trial have revealed that in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) cancer with a programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) of 1 or greater, first-line pembrolizumab, alone or in combination with chemotherapy, is noninferior but not superior to chemotherapy alone. In patients with a PD-L1 CPS of 10 or greater, pembrolizumab monotherapy showed a possible benefit, but one that cannot be considered definitive o...

In patients with advanced melanoma, pembrolizumab achieves efficacy regardless of BRAF V600E/K mutation status or prior treatment with BRAF and/or MEK inhibitors, according to the results of a new pooled analysis published in JAMA Oncology. Approximately 40% of metastatic melanomas harbor a BRAF mutation, 90% of which are an activating BRAF V600E/K mutation. While targeted agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors, including pembrolizumab, have considerably improved outcomes for patients with adva...

Patients with unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer with high microsatellite instability (MSI) or a deficiency in mismatch repair (dMMR) now have their first frontline immunotherapy option, thanks to the FDA's approval of pembrolizumab (Keytruda®, Merck) in this population. Efficacy and safety were investigated in an open-label phase 3 trial, KEYNOTE-177 (NCT02563002), for which 307 patients with previously untreated MSI-high/dMMR metastatic colorectal cancer and an Eastern Cooperative On...

For patients with recurrent or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), pembrolizumab (Keytruda®, Merck & Co., Inc.) is now FDA approved. An immunotherapy originally approved for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, and advanced cervical cancer, among others, pembrolizumab targets the programmed death (PD-1) pathway to prevent cancer cells from hiding. This allows the body's T cells to attack and kill cancer cells. Approval ...