Challenging the standard of care in advanced melanoma: focus on pembrolizumab

The last several years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of effective therapies that have been shown to improve survival outcomes for patients with advanced melanoma. Among these treatments are the immune checkpoint inhibitors, a new class of immunotherapy, that have demonstrated the ability to improve both response rates and survival outcomes. Pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor that blocks the negative regulatory PD-1 receptor on T-cell lymphocytes, has shown improved efficacy compared to standard therapies with an acceptable tolerability profile. Additionally, this agent is being evaluated in adjuvant and combination trial strategies that have great potential to further advance outcomes. This review focuses on the advances that pembrolizumab has made in melanoma and what studies are upcoming that could change the future of melanoma treatment yet again.