Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Dec 19, 2021.
Commonly used brand name(s)
In the U.S.
- Keytruda
Available Dosage Forms:
- Solution
Therapeutic Class: Antineoplastic Agent
Pharmacologic Class: Monoclonal Antibody
Uses for pembrolizumab
Pembrolizumab injection is used to treat melanoma (a type of skin cancer) that has spread or cannot be removed by surgery. It is also used to help prevent melanoma from coming back after it and lymph nodes affected by cancer have been removed by surgery in patients with Stage IIB, Stage IIC, or Stage III melanoma.
Pembrolizumab injection is used alone to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread, whose tumors express PD-L1 and do not have an abnormal EGFR or ALK gene in patients who have not received other cancer treatments. It is also used alone to treat NSCLC that has spread, whose tumors express PD-L1 and have an abnormal EGFR or ALK gene in patients who have received other cancer medicines (eg, platinum) that did not work well. Pembrolizumab injection is also used alone as first-line treatment for stage III NSCLC in patients who cannot have surgery or chemotherapy with radiation or for NSCLC that has spread and whose tumors express PD-L1 without an abnormal EGFR or ALK gene. Pembrolizumab is also used in combination with pemetrexed and platinum-containing chemotherapy to treat NSCLC that has spread and whose tumors do not have an abnormal EGFR or ALK gene. Pembrolizumab injection is also used together with carboplatin and paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel to treat squamous NSCLC that has spread.
Pembrolizumab injection is used in combination with platinum and fluorouracil as first-line treatment of head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) that has spread or cannot be removed by surgery. Pembrolizumab is also given to patients whose tumors express PD-L1 or patients who have received other cancer medicines (eg, platinum) that did not work well.
Pembrolizumab injection is used to treat relapsed (cancer that has come back) or refractory (cancer that did not respond to treatment) classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) in adults. Pembrolizumab is also used to treat cHL in children who have tried a treatment that did not work, or whose cHL has retur...
