Drug Database
PE

pembrolizumab

✓ Approved

Dako · CD274 · Companion diagnostic

What is pembrolizumab?

pembrolizumab is a companion diagnostic developed by Dako. It is approved for therapeutic indications via others.

Drug Profile

CompanyDako
Drug ClassCompanion diagnostic
Molecular TargetCD274
RouteOthers
StatusApproved
Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov, Dako

Mechanism of Action

Molecular Targets

pembrolizumab acts on 1 molecular target:

CD274CD274 molecule (B7H1, B7-H)
Want deeper analysis?Noah AI can explain complex mechanisms and compare to similar drugs.

Therapeutic Indications

pembrolizumab is developed for 1 unique indication across 1 therapeutic area.

Therapeutic AreaConditionPhase
Neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps)Uterine cancer✓ Approved

Related Research Articles

PubMedSeminars in hearing2026-10-07

Audiology at the Intersection of Labor, Revenue, and Professional Taxonomy.

Bray Victor V

A healthcare profession's economic position is determined not only by its educational preparation or clinical scope, but also by how its services are classified, reimbursed, and translated into professional labor demand. This article examines audiology through the integrated framework of professional taxonomy, revenue generation, and labor economics to explain the structural factors underlying the profession's current economic position within the U.S. healthcare system. Drawing on principles of labor economics and evidence synthesized from companion analyses of workforce supply and professional earnings, the manuscript characterizes how regulatory classification, reimbursement authority, and prevailing revenue models interact to shape the valuation and deployment of audiologic labor. The analysis argues that audiology occupies a hybrid position spanning diagnostic, therapeutic, and product-linked models without achieving full economic recognition within any of them. This structural misalignment limits independent billing authority, constrains pricing power, weakens the relationship between clinical expertise and professional revenue, and contributes to compressed earnings, restricted workforce growth, and limited scalability of service delivery. Understanding these interdependent structural relationships provides an explanatory framework for interpreting audiology's workforce and economic challenges and establishes a foundation for evaluating future policy, reimbursement, and practice model reforms intended to strengthen the profession's long-term sustainability.

PMID 42840922
Read full article →
PubMedFrontiers in immunology2026-10-07

Case Report: High TMB fails to predict immunotherapy response in PTCH1-mutant basal cell carcinoma with squamous differentiation.

Aydın Esranur E, Tokat Ünal Metin ÜM, Adibi Ashkan A, Bilgiç Şevval Nur ŞN et al.

Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is widely utilized as a predictive biomarker for response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). However, a subset of hypermutated tumors exhibits primary resistance to immunotherapy, indicating that additional tumor-intrinsic mechanisms may override immunogenicity. Aberrant Hedgehog (Hh) signaling, frequently driven by PTCH1 inactivation in basal cell carcinoma (BCC), has been implicated in immune exclusion and suppression of antitumor immunity. We report a case of a 64-year-old male initially diagnosed with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) of archival tumor tissue revealed an ultra-high TMB (95 muts/Mb) accompanied by a distinct ultraviolet (UV) mutational signature, with negative PD-L1 status. Based on the elevated TMB, dual immune checkpoint blockade was initiated; however, the patient did not achieve objective tumor regression. Reassessment of the genomic data, specifically the presence of a pathogenic truncating PTCH1 (Y977fs*16) alteration alongside the UV signature, raised a strong suspicion of basal cell carcinoma with squamous differentiation, prompting a diagnostic revision. Given the established role of PTCH1 loss in constitutive Hedgehog (Hh) pathway activation and immune exclusion, we considered aberrant Hedgehog signaling to be a biologically plausible contributor to the limited objective response observed during initial immune checkpoint blockade. Consequently, a rational combinatorial strategy utilizing vismodegib (an Hh pathway inhibitor) and pembrolizumab was initiated. Following the introduction of the targeted-immunotherapy combination, the patient achieved a durable and ongoing clinical response. Serial liquid biopsy analysis showed that the same PTCH1 alteration remained detectable during longitudinal assessment, supporting the biological relevance of Hedgehog pathway dysregulation in this case. This case highlights the limitations of relying solely on conventional biomarkers, such as TMB, even in the context of extreme hypermutation and UV-induced mutagenesis. CGP may be essential not only for therapeutic guidance but also diagnostic refinement. Our findings support the hypothesis that Hedgehog pathway inhibition may contribute to overcoming apparent resistance to immune checkpoint blockade in selected PTCH1-altered BCCs, supporting a biology-guided combinatorial approach in biomarker-discordant tumors with high TMB.

PMID 42840129
Read full article →
PubMedFrontiers in oncology2026-10-07

Spatial PK-PD mismatch in tumor-targeting antibodies and ADCs: from lesion access to pharmacologic execution.

Lai Sitong S, Li Shanshan S

Systemic pharmacokinetics and target expression do not show whether tumor cells have received enough antibody to produce the intended effect. Tumor-targeting antibodies must reach individual lesions, cross tumor tissue, bind accessible targets, and, for some platforms, align with intracellular or neighboring-cell processes required for action. This critical narrative review organizes evidence by where exposure and effect become discordant. We define four spatial PK-PD mismatches (1): systemic exposure without adequate lesion access (2); lesion uptake without adequate microscopic distribution; (3) target expression without sufficient in vivo engagement; and (4) engagement without spatially appropriate pharmacologic execution. Biological resistance after adequate spatial drug exposure is treated separately. We synthesize direct human distribution studies, lesion-resolved exposure-outcome studies, target-heterogeneity studies, preclinical interventions, and mechanistic models in a five-tier evidence hierarchy. Human immunoPET, fluorescence window studies, quantitative tissue imaging, and single-cell spatial pharmacobiology show substantial heterogeneity across lesions and cells, whereas lesion-level exposure-outcome evidence remains limited. Prior work has also shown that distribution effects depend on dose, affinity, antigen density, internalization, linker-payload properties, and bystander activity; the present review does not treat penetration as a universal determinant of efficacy. We therefore propose a mismatch-directed development workflow in which the suspected limiting step determines the measurement, corrective intervention, and validation endpoint. Spatial PK-PD is best viewed as a mechanism-based development framework rather than a validated routine companion diagnostic.

PMID 42840679
Read full article →
PubMedScientific data2026-10-07

A spatiotemporally harmonized dataset of utility-reported power outages and NWS VTEC weather warnings for the contiguous United States (2015-2024).

Saki Shah S, Sofia Giulia G, Kar Bandana B, Anagnostou Emmanouil E

Power grids across the United States are increasingly exposed to weather-related disruption, yet reproducible analyses are limited by differences in the spatial and temporal structure of outage and meteorological records. This Data Descriptor presents a harmonized, event-based archive linking county-level customer power-outage records from the U.S. Department of Energy EAGLE-I platform with National Weather Service watches, warnings and advisories encoded through the Valid Time Event Code system. The archive spans the contiguous United States from 2015 through 2024. The primary released file contains hourly indexed, positive processed outage observations that overlap at least one VTEC warning and include event identifiers, matched warning types, and source-record availability diagnostics. Companion files provide the consolidated warning archive, daily county-level EAGLE-I source-record availability and sensitivity summaries evaluating missing-record treatment, temporal aggregation, and recovery persistence. Technical validation quantifies the consequences of preprocessing assumptions and documents spatial, temporal and warning-matching consistency. The dataset supports reproducible analysis of spatiotemporal co-occurrence between reported power disruptions and operational weather warnings while explicitly retaining limitations associated with the underlying outage record.

PMID 42838968
Read full article →
PubMedSeminars in hearing2026-10-07

Professional Status of Audiology in U.S. Healthcare: A Health Economics Perspective.

Amlani Amyn M AM

Professional status in healthcare is determined not only by educational preparation or statutory scope of practice, but also by how a profession functions within reimbursement systems, labor markets, and healthcare delivery. This article applies a health economics framework to evaluate the current professional status of audiology in the United States using observable economic indicators rather than aspirational goals or regulatory intent. Drawing on evidence synthesized from companion analyses of workforce trends, professional earnings, educational investment, reimbursement policy, and labor market dynamics, the review examines how reimbursement authority, pricing power, workforce growth, earnings trajectories, and productivity collectively reflect professional standing. The analysis demonstrates that, despite doctoral-level education and expanding clinical competencies, audiology remains constrained by limited reimbursement authority, restricted pricing autonomy, narrow service valuation, and clinician-dependent delivery models that limit workforce scalability and economic returns. These structural conditions contribute to constrained earnings growth, workforce instability, and increasing debt-to-income pressures, placing the profession in an intermediate economic position relative to other doctoral health professions. The article concludes that professional advancement should be evaluated through measurable economic outcomes and that meaningful progress toward autonomous professional status will require coordinated alignment of reimbursement, revenue architecture, labor deployment, and professional classification within the U.S. healthcare system.

PMID 42840872
Read full article →
PubMedFrontiers in oncology2026-10-07

Clinical characteristics and immunotherapy in Chinese patients with Merkel cell carcinoma: a retrospective analysis.

Li Ting T, Ren Sijia S, Wang Jin J, Zhao Yingfan Y et al.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but highly aggressive cutaneous malignancy with limited epidemiological and therapeutic data in Asian populations. While immunotherapy works in Western patients, its efficacy in Chinese MCC patients remains unexplored. We retrospectively analyzed 40 histologically confirmed MCC cases treated at our institution between November 2011 to November 2024. Sixteen patients with complete records underwent detailed analysis of demographics, treatments, and responses. The cohort included 25 female and 15 male patients (median age 71 years, range 25-91). Of the 16 patients with detailed information, 15 (94%) patients underwent extensive resection while 1 did not. Among surgical patients, 1 (7%) patient operative area received postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy, and 2 (13%) had additional lymph node dissection. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that out of 10 evaluable patients, 8 (80%) were MCPyV positive and 3 (30%) were PD-L1 positive. Among the patients receiving systemic treatment, four were administered Pembrolizumab at a dose of 200 mg every three weeks. Remarkably, three of these patients (75%) achieved a complete response (CR) by radiographic evaluation, with two of the treated specimens showed no residual malignant cells detected in post-treatment biopsy specimens. The treatment was well-tolerated, with no grade 3 or higher adverse events reported during the observation period. This study describes MCC characteristics in Chinese patients, with preliminary indications of female predominance and favorable immunotherapy responses. The findings highlight the need for standardized treatment approaches.

PMID 42839999
Read full article →

+9996 more articles available with a free account

Sign up free to view all articles →

Ask about pembrolizumab