Pembrolizumab triples chance of survival for the 10-15% of patients with the right genetic makeup, study finds

A “gamechanger” immunotherapy drug that “melts away” tumours dramatically increases the chances of curing some bowel cancers and may even replace the need for surgery, doctors have said.

Pembrolizumab targets and blocks a specific protein on the surface of immune cells that then seek out and destroy cancer cells.

Giving the drug before surgery instead of chemotherapy led to a huge increase in patients being declared cancer-free, a clinical trial found. The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world’s largest cancer conference.

The study was led by University College London, University College London hospital, the Christie NHS foundation trust in Manchester, St James’s University hospital in Leeds, University hospital Southampton and the University of Glasgow.