Merck has now added a real doctor to its TV ad for Keytruda (pembrolizumab), the cancer immunotherapeutic. Two new ads – one featuring Dr. Goetz Kloecker, a practicing oncologist, alone and one featuring Dr.

Half (50%) of the patients who received Keytruda every 3 weeks were alive at 4.1 months, compared to 2.8 months for patients receiving Yervoy. Keytruda was shown to reduce the risk of dying by 31% compared to Yervoy.

Keytruda works by binding to PD-1 and therefore blocking the cancer cells from using their own protein to slot into the same spot and switch off the immune cells. So with Keytruda, the T-cells do their job and effectively attack the cancer. Keytruda is also known as an anti PD-1 immunotherapy.

Patients receiving Keytruda lived for 10.3 months (median overall survival) compared to 7.4 months with chemotherapy.

How often you receive an infusion of KEYTRUDA will depend on the schedule you and your doctor choose. Some patients can stay on KEYTRUDA for up to a year or two. Your doctor will decide how long you will be on treatment. Always talk to your doctor about what to expect while taking KEYTRUDA.

Half (50%) of the patients who received Keytruda every 3 weeks were alive at 4.1 months, compared to 2.8 months for patients receiving Yervoy. Keytruda was shown to reduce the risk of dying by 31% compared to Yervoy.

The average overall survival duration among Keytruda treated patients is now 26.3 months compared to 14.2 months for those treated with chemotherapy. The 36-month overall survival is 43.7% for Keytruda compared to 24.9% for chemotherapy.

How often you receive an infusion of KEYTRUDA will depend on the schedule you and your doctor choose. Some patients can stay on KEYTRUDA for up to a year or two. Your doctor will decide how long you will be on treatment. Always talk to your doctor about what to expect while taking KEYTRUDA.

Of the patients who completed approximately two years of treatment (35 cycles) with KEYTRUDA plus pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin (n=57/405), 71.9% were alive at five years following randomization, with an ORR of 86.0% (with eight complete responses and 41 partial responses).

Patients receiving Keytruda lived for 10.3 months (median overall survival) compared to 7.4 months with chemotherapy.

KEYTRUDA plus carboplatin-paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel reduced the risk of death by 29% (HR=0.71 [95% CI, 0.59-0.85]) versus chemotherapy alone. The median OS was 17.2 months for the KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy group versus 11.6 months for the chemotherapy group.

Research published this February noted that many patients are living longer after receiving immunotherapy, which activates the body's own immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells.