Highlights
I think Keytruda has become a ‘wonder’ drug. The last time I checked it had 26 indications… Merck have done a very good job with their marketing strategy, I would say. [In head and neck cancer], they have invested a lot of money in trying pembrolizumab in basically every site of the disease… and it looks like it’s paying off.
Well, now what we see across the board is that patients who have responded to immunotherapy for a long time, say >6 months, and then they relapse, they are likely to respond again to immunotherapy combinations. So, having said that, it was said to me that in the second-line setting, in a patient who after responding to a pembrolizumab-based regimen, and then they relapse, they will be somebody you want to try the Illuminox strategy in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor.
This interview with a US-based key opinion leader (KOL) provides insights into prescribing habits, key marketed brands, and late-phase pipeline therapies for head and neck cancer. Disease stratification by staging and origin of the primary tumor, as well as unmet needs, are also discussed. Key pipeline assets highlighted include Imfinzi, Bavencio, tremelimumab, and Tecentriq.