The FDA approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) in combination with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy to treat metastatic/locally advanced esophageal carcinoma or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) carcinoma with an epicenter 1 to 5 cm above the GEJ in patients who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation.
The approval was based on data from the multicenter randomized, placebo-controlled KEYNOTE-590 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: