Immunotherapy study yields unexpectedly strong results for lung cancer patients

A terminal cancer patient receives Keytruda drug.

(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

published 16 April 2018

Researchers in Chicago presented new data Monday that has big implications for lung cancer patients. A clinical trial discovered that pairing immunotherapy drugs with standard chemotherapy could significantly increase survival rates in lung cancer patients, Stat reports.

A trial study called Keynote-189 found that newly diagnosed lung cancer patients were 51 percent more likely to be alive in a year if they underwent a regimen that combined Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug by the pharmaceutical company Merck, with standard chemotherapy, than if they received chemotherapy treatment alone. Patients with the combined treatment were also 48 percent less likely to have their cancer progress in that year.