The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA, Merck & Co.) for adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic, microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors that have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options or with MSI-H or dMMR colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. This is the FDA’s first tissue/site-agnostic approval. The approval was based on data from 149 patients with MSI-H or dMMR cancers enrolled across five uncontrolled, multi-cohort, multi-center, single-arm clinical trials. The major efficacy outcome measures were objective response rate (ORR) assessed by blinded independent central radiologists’ review according to RECIST 1.1, and response duration. ORR was 39.6% (95% CI: 31.7, 47.9). Responses lasted six months or more for 78% percent of those who responded to pembrolizumab. There were 11 complete responses and 48 partial responses. ORR was similar irrespective of whether patients were diagnosed with CRC (36%) or a different cancer type (46% across the 14 other cancer types). The recommended pembrolizumab dose for this indication is 200 mg for adults or 2 mg/kg (up to a maximum of 200 mg) for children, administered as an intravenous infusion over 30 minutes every 3 weeks until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression.
To read more, click FDA approval to pembrolizumab.
