Tens of thousands of cancer patients across the UK are set to benefit from a new one-minute injection being rolled out by the NHS. This innovative immunotherapy treatment instructs the body’s immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells, proving effective against a range of diseases including lung, breast, head and neck, and cervical cancers.
Previously, patients receiving the drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) endured lengthy intravenous drips. The introduction of this new injectable form dramatically reduces treatment time by up to 90 per cent. Among the first to receive the rapid new jab on the NHS was 89-year-old Shirley Xerxes from St Albans, who is battling bowel cancer.
She was treated at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, part of East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust.
