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News: Keytruda is now being used worldwide to treat lung, cervical, renal cell, and aggressive breast cancers, among others.
About Keytruda
- Keytruda is the brand name of pembrolizumab, which is an immunotherapy drug used to treat several cancers.
- Manufactured by: It is manufactured by Merck & Co (MSD), a US-based pharmaceutical company.
- It belongs to a class of drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, which help the immune system fight cancer.
- These drugs remove the “brakes” that prevent T cells from attacking cancer cells.
- It belongs to the category of monoclonal antibodies.
- Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made molecules designed to bind to specific targets.
- They help the immune system identify and destroy cancer cells.
- How it works:
- Pembrolizumab works by attaching to PD-1 receptors on T cells. This prevents the interaction between PD-1 receptors on T cells and PD-L1 receptors on cancer cells.
- As a result, T cells are able to recognize and attack cancer cells. In this way, Keytruda uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.
- Cost and Dosage: The recommended dosage of Keytruda is 200 mg every three weeks.
- Each 100 mg vial costs more than ₹1.5 lakh.
- Availability in India: Keytruda and other monoclonal antibodies are available in tertiary care hospitals across India.
- Note: India’s first indigenous CAR-T therapy, called NexCar19, has been developed by ImmunoAct.
- Use: It is being used globally to treat several cancers, including lung cancer, cervical cancer, renal cell cancer, and aggressive breast cancer.
About Immunotherapy
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