Dr. Mehra on KEYNOTE-012 Results of Pembrolizumab in Head and Neck Cancer

Ranee Mehra, MD, chief, Head and Neck Hematology/Oncology, associate professor, Department of Hematology/Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, discusses the results of the KEYNOTE-012 study, which examined the efficacy of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Results presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting were of the expansion cohort of the phase Ib trial, in which 192 patients were enrolled on 2 cohorts, Mehra explains. Findings from the combined analysis of patients, who were HPV-positive or HPV-negative and were treated with pembrolizumab, show that there were responses in both subgroups.

The median progression-free survival from the combined analysis with pembrolizumab was 2 months, while the median overall survival was 8 months.