MSD in the UK
This section of the website is for UK healthcare professionals only. If you are not a healthcare professional, please click here.
MSD in the UK
This section of the website is for UK healthcare professionals only. If you are not a healthcare professional, please click here.
Surgeon's Hub
KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) HNSCC /
Products /
Root /

Early PD-L1 testing to optimise multidisciplinary team (MDT) decision-making

Prescribing Information (Great Britain) & Prescribing Information (Northern Ireland) [External links]

Changing your testing outlook could change his treatment options

Consider PD-L1 testing for patients with suspected unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)1

KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) as monotherapy is indicated for the first-line treatment of metastatic or unresectable recurrent (M/uR) HNSCC in adults whose tumours express PD-L1 with a CPS ≥1.1

By including PD-L1 testing in your diagnostic bundle when you suspect or detect unresectable recurrent HNSCC, you can help to expand your patients' treatment options at the next MDT meeting.1

How many of your patients could be PD-L1 positive?

In the KEYNOTE-048 study

85%

of treatment-naïve M/uR HNSCC patients had tumours that expressed PD-L1 (CPS ≥1)1,2

Icons representing the 85% of patients with M/uR head and neck cancer in KEYNOTE 048 who had tumours expressing PD-L1 with a CPS ≥1

n = 754/882; PD-L1 CPS was determined using the PD-L1 IHC 22C3 PharmDx assay
(Agilent Technologies, Carpinteria, CA, USA)1,2

MDT meetings are often time-limited so it is important to have all relevant patient information available for discussion, including investigational results, to ensure that all suitable treatment options can be considered.3,4

Having PD-L1 results available for review during MDT meetings could:

PD-L1 testing could improve efficiency of MDT meetings in head and neck cancer

Improve MDT meeting effectiveness3,4

PD-L1 testing could avoid treatment delays in MDT meetings for head and neck cancer

Avoid delays in treatment decisions due to incomplete information3,4

PD-L1 testing could broaden access to treatment options for patients with HNSCC / SCCHN

Broaden access to treatment options for your patients1

At patient review

Consider including PD-L1 testing in your diagnostic bundle for suspected unresectable recurrent HNSCC1

Find out more about PD-L1 testing >

At your MDT meeting

For patients whose tumours express PD-L1 CPS ≥ 1, KEYTRUDA could be considered as a treatment option1

Find out more about KEYTRUDA >

To find out more about PD-L1 testing and how to identify patients who may benefit from KEYTRUDA, arrange a discussion with an MSD representative

Contact us

KEYTRUDA as monotherapy is indicated for the first-line treatment of metastatic or unresectable recurrent (M/uR) HNSCC in adults whose tumours express PD-L1 with a CPS ≥1.1

Please refer to the Summary of Product Characteristics for further information before making any prescribing decisions.

Abbreviations

CPS = Combined Positive Score; HNSCC = Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma; IHC = Immunohistochemistry; MDT = Multidisciplinary Team; M/uR = Metastatic or unresectable Recurrent; PD-L1 = Programmed Cell Death Ligand-1.

References

  1. KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) Summary of Product Characteristics.
  2. Burtness B et al. Lancet 2019:394;1915–28.
  3. Cancer Research UK. Meeting Patients' Needs: Improving the effectiveness of multidisciplinary team meetings in cancer services. 2020.
    Available at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/full_report_meeting_patients_needs_improving_the_effectiveness_of_multidisciplinary_team_meetings_.pdf
  4. Jalil R et al. Int J Surg 2013;11:389–94.

GB-OHN-00401 | Date of Preparation: March 2022