Saudi Arabia, in its drive to enrich Arab culture, launches Arab Week at UNESCO in Paris    Civil Defense warns of thunderstorms hitting most Saudi regions until Saturday    Jeddah Mayoralty reclaims 18 government land sites on the North Obhur waterfront    Neymar exits Al Hilal match with muscle injury, leaving fans disappointed    Quality of Life Program CEO highlights Saudi urban transformations at UN-Habitat conference in Cairo    AlHisn Big Time Studios unveiled to transform film and TV production in Riyadh    Saudi Aramco's Q3 net income falls 15.5% to SR103 billion amid a jump in annual cash flows    Saudi Arabia approves cooperation agreement with US for the use of outer space for peaceful purposes    Almarai wins 'Best Corporate Sukuk' at Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards    Top climber falls to death after rare Himalayan feat    US voters flying home in time for election    Elon Musk can keep giving $1m to voters, judge rules    Drones and snipers on standby to protect Arizona vote-counters    India's Modi condemns violence after Canada temple incident    Mitrovic's hat-trick leads Al Hilal to 3-0 victory over Esteghlal    Al Ahli extends perfect start with 5-1 victory over Al Shorta    Quincy Jones, titan of US music, dies aged 91    Al Qadsiah secure 2-0 victory over Al Ettifaq in first Eastern Derby since 2021    Hidden sugars in Asia's baby food spark concerns    HONOR unveils pre-order of the stunning HONOR MagicBook Art 14 Featuring an ultra-slim design, HONOR Eye Comfort Display and AI Cross-OS WorkStation    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



MSD makes headway in treating lung cancer that impacts economy
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 16 - 10 - 2016

The cost of lost productivity and toll in the economic growth as a whole, of premature cancer-related mortality will be greatly minimized, with MSD – the global healthcare leader providing innovative medicines, vaccines, therapies, health products and solutions – revealing a new clinical data showing its Keytruda immunotherapy offered big benefits in previously untreated lung cancer patients, either when given on its own or with chemotherapy.
Most measures of the cancer burden take a public health perspective. Cancer also has a significant economic impact on society.
At an international event held in Copenhagen, experts from MSD, known as Merck in the US and Canada, disclosed that Keytruda halved the risk of disease progression and cut overall deaths by 40 percent compared to chemotherapy alone in pre-selected patients whose tumors had been tested using a biomarker. And when given with two older chemotherapy drugs in non-selected patients, it was almost twice as likely to shrink tumors as chemotherapy alone.
"Chemotherapy has been the standard treatment for most patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer for decades, but survival rates remain low," said Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories. "Our new data suggest that Keytruda treatment can offer meaningful improvement over chemotherapy in a broad array of patients. In this sense, these studies may represent a turning point in worldwide efforts to control lung cancer. We sincerely thank the patients and the clinical investigators for their participation in our studies. Together we are working to improve the health of more and more patients with cancer."
The findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated that Keytruda reduced the risk of progression or death by 50 percent compared to chemotherapy
Additionally, Keytruda resulted in a 40 percent reduction in the risk of death compared with chemotherapy. This finding includes the 66 patients (43.7%) on the chemotherapy arm who crossed over in-study to receive Keytruda once their cancer had progressed.
"These data ... demonstrate the potential of Keytruda to change the way non-small cell lung cancer is currently treated," said Dr. Martin Reck, head of the thoracic oncology dept., LungenClinic Grosshansdorf, Germany, and lead author of The New England Journal of Medicine paper.
The safety of Keytruda was consistent with what has been seen in previous trials among patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The most common treatment-related adverse events for Keytruda were diarrhea, fatigue, and pyrexia.
Moreover, Roger Dansey, M.D., senior vice president and therapeutic area head, oncology late-stage development, Merck Research Laboratories, said "our research in immuno-oncology continues to show tremendous promise, with our goal being to extend the lives of significant numbers of patients with non-small cell lung cancer."
Merck has a robust clinical development program for Keytruda in lung cancer, with multiple registration-enabling studies currently underway. The Keytruda clinical development program includes more than 30 tumor types in more than 350 clinical trials, including more than 100 trials that combine Keytruda with other cancer treatments.
MSD's goal is to translate breakthrough science into innovative oncology medicines to help people with cancer worldwide. At MSD Oncology, "helping people fight cancer is our passion and supporting accessibility to our cancer medicines is our commitment. Our focus is on pursuing research in immuno-oncology and we are accelerating every step in the journey – from lab to clinic – to potentially bring new hope to people with cancer."
"As part of our focus on cancer, MSD is committed to exploring the potential of immuno-oncology with one of the fastest-growing development programs in the industry. We are currently executing an expansive research program that includes more than 350 clinical trials evaluating our anti-PD-1 therapy across more than 30 tumor types. We also continue to strengthen our immuno-oncology portfolio through strategic acquisitions and are prioritizing the development of several promising immunotherapeutic candidates with the potential to improve the treatment of advanced cancers," MSD said in a statement.


Clic here to read the story from its source.