WEST POINT, Pa. (CBS) — Area oncologists are hailing the FDA’s
approval of a new cancer drug developed by Merck, which has a large
facility in Montgomery County.
The drug, a new form of immuno-therapy is called Keytruda. And
it’s being called a game changer in the field of cancer treatment.
The drug has been approved for use against melanoma, but Dr. Hossein
Borghaei, of Fox Chase Cancer Center, says similar treatments are being
developed to control other forms of cancer.
“We now have at least preliminary report that immuno-therapy can be very effective in lung cancer,”
“There are many different companies working on developing drugs that,
in essence, are thought of as taking the brake off the immune system, to
allow the patients own immune system to recognize the tumor as foreign
and to try to control the disease that way.”
Bristol Myers expects to file for FDA approval of its new drug to treat melanoma by the end of the month.
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