following a full submission:
pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) is accepted for use within NHSScotland.
Indication under review: as monotherapy for the treatment of resectable locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma as neoadjuvant treatment, continued as adjuvant treatment in combination with radiation therapy with or without concomitant cisplatin and then as monotherapy in adults whose tumours express PD-L1 with a CPS≥ 1.
Evidence from an open-label phase III study demonstrated that the addition of perioperative pembrolizumab to adjuvant radiotherapy, with or without cisplatin, improved event-free survival. Adjuvant radiotherapy, with or without cisplatin, is the most relevant comparator in this setting.
This advice applies only in the context of an approved NHSScotland Patient Access Scheme (PAS) arrangement delivering the cost-effectiveness results upon which the decision was based, or a PAS/ list price that is equivalent or lower.
Medicine details
- Medicine name:
- pembrolizumab (Keytruda)
- SMC ID:
- SMC2907
- Indication:
As monotherapy for the treatment of resectable locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma as neoadjuvant treatment, continued as adjuvant treatment in combination with radiation therapy with or without concomitant cisplatin and then as monotherapy in adults whose tumours express PD-L1 with a CPS ≥ 1.
- Pharmaceutical company
- Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd
- BNF chapter
- Malignant disease and immunosuppression
- Submission type
- Full
- Status
- Accepted
- Date advice published
- 07 September 2026