For years, head and neck cancers carried a cruel reputation — aggressive, recurring, and often caught too late. But now, a single injection could be rewriting that story.
Doctors call it pembrolizumab — or Keytruda — and early results are nothing short of life-changing. Once used mainly for lung and breast cancers, this immunotherapy is now showing incredible promise for cancers linked to HPV, often spread through close contact or oral sex.
In a groundbreaking trial across 24 countries, the drug doubled survival time — keeping cancer at bay for five years instead of just two and a half with standard treatment. “This could change the world for these patients,” said Professor Kevin Harrington from London’s Institute of Cancer Research.
For 45-year-old Laura Marston from Derbyshire, that hope became real. Diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer in 2019, she joined the clinical trial. “I had to relearn how to talk and eat,” she shared. “But six years later, I’m still here. This treatment gave me the gift of life.”
Experts believe this could be one of the most important advances in decades — a light for thousands of younger patients facing a terrifying diagnosis. And it leaves one haunting question: could this be the key to turning cancer from deadly… to livable?
