Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is a cancer medicine that interferes with the growth and spread of cancer cells in the body.
Keytruda is used alone or in combination with other medicines to treat certain types of cancer such as:
skin cancer (melanoma or Merkel cell carcinoma);
lung cancer;
head and neck cancer;
classical Hodgkin lymphoma;
primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma;
cancer of the kidney, bladder, and urinary tract;
liver cancer;
cancer of the cervix or uterus;
advanced stomach cancer or esophageal cancer; or
a type of cancer that laboratory testing proves to have certain specific DNA mutations, including colorectal cancer.
Keytruda is often given when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, or cannot be treated with surgery or radiation, or when other cancer treatments did not work or have stopped working.
For some types of cancer, pembrolizumab is given only if your tumor tests positive for "PD-L1", or if the tumor has been tested for a specific genetic marker (including "EGFR," "ALK," "HER2/neu," or "TMB").
