Pembrolizumab is a humanized monoclonal IgG4 antibody directed against the surface receptor PD-1 (programmed cell death-1). Activated PD-1 negatively regulates T-cell activation and plays a key role in tumor evasion from host imunity.
This article provides an overview of current indications of pembrolizumab, except for lung tumors which are addressed in another article in this issue.