ISLAMABAD: Tens of thousands of cancer patients in England can now receive immunotherapy in under a minute as Britain's publicly funded health service begins rolling out subcutaneous injections of pembrolizumab, a treatment previously administered via an intravenous infusion that can take up to two hours.
According to England’s National Health Service (NHS), the injectable form of the drug can be used for 14 cancer types. This includes lung, breast, head and neck, and cervical cancers. It works by blocking the PD-1 protein, which suppresses immune responses, allowing the immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells.
The NHS is the body that oversees publicly funded healthcare for England's 57 million residents.
The public health provider reported that roughly 14,000 patients begin pembrolizumab therapy each year in England alone, and most are now expected to receive the injection rather than the drip. The new formulation is administered every three weeks as a one-minute injection, or every six weeks as a two-minute injection, depending on the cancer type.
Among the first patients to receive the injection was 89-year-old Shirley Xerxes, treated at a specialist cancer center in Hertfordshire, north of London. According to NHS England, Xerxes called the experience "unbelievable." The octogenarian stated that she was "only in the chair for a matter of minutes instead of an hour or more."
"It's made such a difference and gives me more time to live my life, including spending more time gardening," Xerxes said, as quoted by NHS England.
According to the health service’s national clinical director for cancer, the shift would allow patients to “get back to living their lives rather than spending hours in a hospital chair.” It would also free up clinical capacity to treat more patients.
NHS England also noted that hospital pharmacy teams currently prepare IV bags under specialist sterile conditions, which is a time-consuming process. The ready-to-administer injection removes that step entirely and frees up clinic space.
The rollout is expected to deliver faster, more convenient care while freeing up clinical capacity, with roughly 40,000 more people across England already starting cancer treatment on time.
The health service described the shift as a practical solution to a strained system, saying the time saved would allow clinical teams to treat more patients and that proven treatments must continue to reach people "quickly and fairly."
