Call for widened access to Keytruda following new trial results

Breast Cancer Foundation NZ is calling on Pharmac to widen access to Keytruda in light of new incontrovertible evidence that the treatment will save the lives of women with early-stage triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Pharmac has already confirmed Keytruda (pembrolizumab) will be funded for New Zealanders with advanced TNBC. For these patients, although their cancer can’t be cured, it can be controlled so women live longer and healthier lives.

Now, new long-term data shows that for early-stage TNBC patients (i.e. patients whose cancer has not metastasised and become stage 4), Keytruda is highly effective at preventing cancer from becoming incurable. Patients on a clinical trial who received Keytruda with chemotherapy were 34% less likely to die and 32% less likely have their cancer spread beyond the breast than those on chemotherapy only. After five years, 87% of Keytruda recipients were still alive, compared to 82% of those who received only chemo.

These results were presented at a major international conference – the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress – in Barcelona on Monday, attended by Breast Cancer Foundation NZ’s research manager, Adèle Gautier.

She says these numbers can’t be ignored: “Every other type of breast cancer has a targeted drug that significantly improves survival, so it’s devastating for Kiwis with early-stage triple negative breast cancer to be missing out. These new results provide compelling evidence that Keytruda would make a massive difference for more New Zealanders and we need Pharmac to act on this.

“The conclusion from the world’s top scientific experts at the conference was that Keytruda should be standard of care for early-stage triple negative breast cancer. If this could happen in New Zealand, we’d be giving women with this high-risk disease the best chance of survival.”

“We have been so heartened by Pharmac’s recent commitment to new drugs – we all want to see New Zealand lifted up from the bottom of the OECD when it comes to cancer medicines access. An obvious win would be allowing more triple negative patients access to Keytruda.”

Around 10 to 15% of all breast cancers are triple negative, a form that is typically more aggressive, disproportionately affects younger women, and doesn’t respond to other targeted treatments. Keytruda is the first drug that can specifically attack triple negative breast cancer cells.

Pharmac was first asked to fund Keytruda for early triple negative breast cancer in 2022 and this is still currently under assessment. Pharmac’s clinical advisors recommended in October 2023 that Keytruda should be funded for both early and advanced TNBC.