What the trial was testing
The KEYNOTE-189 enrolled 616 patients with lung cancer. The study was sponsored by Merck and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
51% lower risk of death when pembrolizumab was added to chemotherapy.
New England Journal of Medicine · 2018 · NCT02578680
These findings — that of death when pembrolizumab was added to chemotherapy as a first-line lung cancer treatment — were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 616 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with lung cancer, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus chemotherapy is FDA-approved as a first-line treatment for metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer without targetable mutations and available now. It is given as IV infusions. Immune-related side effects can affect any organ and need close monitoring. Ask your oncologist whether immunotherapy fits your case.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open lung cancer trials
Munich ME/CFS Cohort Study
The Munich cohort study MUC-CFS aims at the characterization and long-term follow-up of myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in young people aged up to 25 years, as well as at the identification of pathomechanisms, biomarkers, and targets for future treatment approaches.
A Global Phase III Study of Rilvegostomig or Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy for First-Line Treatment of Locally Advanced or Metastatic Squamous Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
The purpose of ARTEMIDE-Lung02 is to assess the efficacy and safety of rilvegostomig in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy for the first-line (1L) treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) whose tumors express programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1).