Immunotherapy steers focus to microenvironment
March 2016—It’s not every day that a monoclonal antibody leads the news. But when former president Jimmy Carter was successfully treated for metastasized melanoma last year with the new drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda), the story made headlines. Carter’s recovery—surprising to many when it was announced in December—may have been helped by traditional radiation and chemotherapy. However, the role played by pembrolizumab spotlighted immunotherapy as an exciting advance in the evolution of cancer treatment.