A major international clinical trial has shown that the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab significantly improves outcomes for patients with advanced head and neck cancer.
Administered both before and after surgery, the drug helps the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells, reducing the risk of recurrence and prolonging the period patients remain cancer-free.
On average, the drug doubled progression-free survival from 2.5 years to five years and reduced the chance of cancer spreading elsewhere in the body by 10% after three years. Researchers say the findings mark the first major breakthrough in treating this difficult cancer type in 20 years and call for the drug to be made available through national health services.
