Pembrolizumab
KeytrudaRCSB PDB 5DK3 · 3D model
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A lab-made antibody that attaches to the PD-1 protein on immune cells, blocking a signal cancer cells use to hide, so the immune system can recognize and attack the tumor.
How it works
Pembrolizumab is a lab-made antibody that locks onto a protein called PD-1 on the surface of immune cells called T cells. Normally, tumors can send a signal through PD-1 that tells these T cells to stand down, letting the cancer hide from the immune system. By blocking PD-1, pembrolizumab stops that signal from getting through, so the T cells stay active. Freed from that brake, the immune system can recognize and attack the cancer on its own, rather than the drug killing cancer cells directly.
What it’s used for
This drug is approved to treat many different types of cancer, not just one. Major examples include melanoma (a serious skin cancer), lung cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, bladder cancer, and certain head and neck cancers, along with other cancers — including some colorectal cancers — that carry specific genetic markers making them more likely to respond to this kind of immune therapy.
- Mechanism
- PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor (mAb)
- Drug class
- Monoclonal antibody
- Therapeutic area
- Immuno-oncology