In the UK news today - Pembrolizumab

Pembrolizumab, marketed in the U.S. as Keytruda, has had some astounding successes with certain types of cancer. But it requires certain genetic qualifications be in place before it's effective..

By the time patients are selected for treatment, their genetic qualifications determined and the drug administered, the costs can be astronomical..Before Keytruda can be put to widespread use, these issues will have to be addressed....

I know of two men on the board that have used Keytruda in the last year. One had to stop when the drug was killing him (one of the significant side effects). The other was getting some success initially, but I don’t remember seeing any updates for many months.

Basically you use it until it is not working. Basic drug cost is about $150,000 per year plus the cost of administering it. Only a very small percentage (<5%) of PCa has the genetic markers required. So it may help a few, but it is in no way a mainstream treatment.

While costs ARE high, many of these manufacturers have gone to great lengths to help make them much more affordable thru various patient assistance and copay programs...this goes for Keytruda, Opdivo, and Yervoy.

While I had prostate cancer, my girlfriend had kidney cancer and before the combo of Opdivo + Yervoy was even approved for RCC, Bristol Meyers was very liberal in providing it both for off label use as well as offering payment assistance.

What they found with Keytruda in kidney cancer was that even in the absence of a tumor which tested PDL1 positive, there was still a small percentage of patients which did exhibit an objective response. While response rates were poor, in the absence of any other treatments, I'd bet it's still a risk that many would choose to take.