A new drug that treats cancer based on a tumour’s genetics rather than where it started in a patient’s body will become more widely available in Australia. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved Keytruda, also known by the generic name pembrolizumab, to be used to treat multiple rare cancer types. Bowell cancer sufferer Paul Hazelwood, 44, said his tumours had vastly reduced in size since he started taking the drug, Keytruda (Supplied) It has previously only been available for the treatment of cancers including melanoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and some types of lung cancer. Pembrolizumab is a type of immunotherapy that treats cancer on the basis on the genetic profile of a tumour rather than the location where it was first found. It means patients whose cancer has a specific ‘biomarker’, and which has spread to other organs but has not responded to treatment may have a new treatment. […]