National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (UK) recommends Keytruda for adjuvant treatment of completely resected stage 3 melanoma with lymph node involvement.
It is recommended only if the company provides pembrolizumab according to the commercial arrangement.
Why the committee made this recommendation? Until recently, standard care for people with completely resected melanoma was routine surveillance. Adjuvant treatments such as nivolumab are now available for some people. Clinical evidence shows that adjuvant pembrolizumab increases how long people live without the cancer coming back compared with placebo. There is still not enough data to know how much pembrolizumab increases how long people live. Because of this uncertainty the cost-effectiveness estimates vary. However, the most likely estimates are within what NICE considers an acceptable use of NHS resources. Therefore, pembrolizumab is recommended.
Learning Zones
The Learning Zones are an educational resource for healthcare professionals that provide medical information on the epidemiology, pathophysiology and burden of disease, as well as diagnostic techniques and treatment regimens.
3 mins