KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy improves overall survival versus chemotherapy alone to treat advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma: Merck

“Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rapidly progressing cancer that develops in the lining of the lungs and has a poor prognosis,” said Dr. Eliav Barr, senior vice president, head of global clinical development and chief medical officer, Merck Research Laboratories. “Patients are in need of new treatments that can improve survival outcomes, and these positive results support the potential of KEYTRUDA in combination with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with the most common form of malignant mesothelioma.”

“There have been few treatment advances for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, which can be challenging to treat through surgery and radiation alone,” said Dr. Quincy Chu, CCTG’s study chair of the IND.227 trial/KEYNOTE-483 trial. “The results from the trial have the potential to make a difference for patients with this disease who have had limited treatment options available to them.”

Merck has an extensive clinical development program in lung cancer and is advancing multiple registration-enabling studies, with research directed at earlier stages of disease and novel combinations.