Posted by Michael Wonder on 12 Feb 2018
Scots patients with advanced bladder cancer get first new drug for 25 years after SMC approves pembrolizumab
12 February 2018 - Bladder cancer patients whose tumours have spread are set to get a new drug on the NHS for the first time in 25 years.
The immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab - also known by the brand name Keytruda - has been shown to prolong survival by an extra three months on average compared to chemotherapy.
The SMC has approved the drug for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma - the most common form of bladder cancer - in patients who have previously undergone platinum-containing chemotherapy.
