A new immunotherapy treatment is to be offered to women with aggressive cervical cancer which could help more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long-term.
Pembrolizumab – which experts describe as being able to ‘take the handbrake off the body’s immune system’ to target cancer – will now offer a new option for women in England with locally-advanced cervical cancer.
This means the cancer has grown beyond the cervix to regions such as the pelvic wall, but not yet spread further around the body.
Trials found that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemoradiotherapy helped keep cancer at bay for longer and improved survival rates.
2 years after starting the treatment, nearly 7 in 10 patients (68%) were still living without their cancer progressing, compared with 57% for those receiving chemoradiotherapy alone.
The trial also found that 82.6% of patients were still alive three years after treatment with pembrolizumab and chemoradiotherapy, compared with 74.8% with chemoradiotherapy alone.
The drug is given every 3 or 6 weeks via an infusion or as a ‘one-minute’ injection, following the NHS’s recent rollout of a faster, injectable version of pembrolizumab – alongside chemoradiotherapy.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer, said:
“This is great news for women facing a diagnosis of aggressive cervical cancer – and represents one of the biggest improvements in treatment for this disease in recent years.
“Combining this immunotherapy with existing treatment has had very positive effect for patients in trials, helping the body’s immune system to target cancer more effectively.
“We’re delighted it will be available for patients on the NHS as it could help hundreds more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long-term.”
The NHS estimates around 550 patients in England will be eligible for the treatment over the next 2 years, around 270 per year.
The treatment has been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for treating patients with stages 3 or 4 locally advanced cervical cancer, following a commercial deal struck by NHS England with manufacturer MSD.
