Posted by Michael Wonder on 07 Jul 2019
'Miracle drug' Keytruda approved for use earlier in melanoma treatment
5 July 2019 - A cancer treatment described as a "miracle drug" by many patients has been approved for use in melanoma patients before their cancer spreads and becomes advanced.
Until now, Keytruda had only been approved for use to treat stage four melanoma in New Zealand. By then the cancer is classified as advanced and has usually spread to other parts of the body.
Keytruda now had 10 registrations across five tumour types in New Zealand.
A funding application for stage three melanoma had been lodged with PHARMAC, Smith said.
