Thousands of cancer patients in England are set to benefit from a new injectable form of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, which can be administered in under two minutes, the NHS has announced. The treatment works by blocking a protein called PD-1, enabling the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells.
The new injection replaces the intravenous drip version, which required preparation in a specialist clean room and took around two hours per session. Most of the 14,000 patients currently receiving pembrolizumab are expected to switch to the faster injectable form.
Administered every three weeks as a one-minute injection or every six weeks as a two-minute injection, the treatment is estimated to save the NHS over 100,000 hours of preparation and treatment time annually. This follows the introduction of nivolumab last year, another immunotherapy injection, meaning two rapid immunotherapies are now available for nearly 30 types of cancer.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: “This immunotherapy offers a lifeline for thousands of patients… it’s fantastic that this new rapid jab can now take just a minute to deliver – meaning patients can get back to living their lives rather than spending hours in a hospital chair.”
Shirley Xerxes, an 89-year-old from St Albans, was one of the first recipients. She said: “I can’t believe how little time it took. I was only in the chair for a matter of minutes instead of an hour or more.” University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust are among the first to offer the treatment.
