US approves new immunotherapy drug against melanoma

[riky]

US approves new immunotherapy drug against melanoma

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-approves-immunotherapy-drug-against-melanoma-210114792.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/XRAGvGVUbVH0Ic2Rv2Upfw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9NzU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/5546fb7dee57fa5a87f7a910c0acfcccfbd3f354.jpg" width="130" height="86" alt="A Merck flag flies in front of the company's building on October 2, 2013 in Summit, New Jersey" align="left" title="A Merck flag flies in front of the company's building on October 2, 2013 in Summit, New Jersey" border="0" /></a>A new drug by Merck pharmaceuticals called Keytruda that uses the body's immune system to fight metastatic melanoma was approved Thursday by US regulators. Also known as pembrolizumab, the drug is the sixth new therapy to be approved against the deadly skin cancer since 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration said. &quot;Keytruda is the first approved drug that blocks a cellular pathway known as PD-1, which restricts the body's immune system from attacking melanoma cells,&quot; the FDA said in a statement. More than 76,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma each year and nearly 10,000 die, the agency said.</p><br clear="all"/>

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