Efficacy

Keytruda (pembrolizumab) Efficacy in Lung Cancer

Keytruda, known generically as pembrolizumab, is a highly effective immunotherapy drug used in the treatment of certain types of lung cancer. Specifically, it has shown efficacy in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is the most common form of lung cancer. Pembrolizumab works by targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, a mechanism that tumors use to evade the immune system. By blocking this pathway, Keytruda enables the immune system to better recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Clinical trials have demonstrated that Keytruda can significantly improve survival rates in patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumors express PD-L1 with a proportion score of 1% or more. When used as a first-line treatment, pembrolizumab has been shown to extend overall survival and progression-free survival compared to traditional chemotherapy regimens. Moreover, the benefits of Keytruda have been observed across various subgroups of lung cancer patients, including those with different histological subtypes and varying levels of PD-L1 expression.

Vizimpro (dacomitinib) Efficacy in Lung Cancer

Vizimpro, or dacomitinib, is a targeted therapy approved for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations as detected by an FDA-approved test. Vizimpro is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that works by blocking the activity of the EGFR, which is often overactive in NSCLC cells with these mutations and promotes their growth and survival.

In clinical studies, Vizimpro has shown a significant improvement in progression-free survival when compared to another EGFR-targeting medication, gefitinib, in patients with previously untreated, EGFR-mutated NSCLC. The efficacy of Vizimpro in terms of overall survival, however, has been more variable, with some studies showing a benefit and others not reaching statistical significance. It is important to note that the effectiveness of Vizimpro is largely limited to patients whose tumors have specific EGFR mutations, and it is not effective in NSCLC without these mutations.