A New Cancer Drug Shows Even More Promise

When Jimmy Carter took the drug pembrolizumab to treat his cancer, it had just been approved for people like him: those with advanced melanoma that had spread to other organs, such as the brain, liver and lungs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug through an accelerated fast-track process even before the full study on its effectiveness was completed because the results from the first few hundred patients who tested it were so positive.