Pembroria is not a specific medicine that can cure cancer.

(Dan Tri) - According to experts, many people are mistakenly thinking that the Russian drug Pembroria, which has just been licensed in Vietnam, can completely cure late-stage cancer.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Cam Phuong, Director of the Center for Nuclear Medicine and Oncology, Bach Mai Hospital, said that the Russian drug Pembroria has just been licensed for circulation by the Drug Administration ( Ministry of Health ), and is one of the drugs available for cancer treatment in Vietnam.

This is one of the immunotherapy drugs that, since 2017, Vietnam has had the immunotherapy drug Keytruda (Pembrolizumab) licensed to treat 14 types of cancer.

"Pembroria (Pembrolizumab) is a biosimilar drug, hopefully it will have a reasonable price so that patients can access treatment," Associate Professor Phuong said.

According to experts, Russia's newly licensed cancer drug is an immunotherapy drug that aims to prolong the time the disease does not progress, not a drug that can completely cure late-stage cancer (Illustration: Getty).

Associate Professor Phuong affirmed that the newly licensed Russian cancer drug is one of the immunotherapy drugs, which can be used alone or in combination with chemotherapy to increase the response rate, prolong the time the disease does not progress, and prolong the patient's life, but is not a drug that can completely cure late-stage cancer.

"Cancer is a disease that requires multimodal treatment, combining treatment methods from surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy... The cure rate depends on many factors, from the type of disease, the stage of the disease...", Associate Professor Phuong said.

In fact, in Vietnam, cancers detected at an early stage have a cure rate of up to 95%, such as breast cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, colorectal cancer...

In the early stages, there are cancers that can be completely cured by surgery alone, and the patient does not need to undergo other treatments. Therefore, to detect the disease early and assess the risk of getting the disease, people need to pay attention to regular health check-ups, early detection screening, and timely treatment of cancers, thereby increasing the cure rate.

Sharing this view, the leader of K Hospital said that Pembroria is a biological drug with the same active ingredient as Keytruda, approved for the following indications: melanoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, classical Hodgkin lymphoma, and urothelial carcinoma.

The Russian cancer drug is indicated for the treatment of esophageal carcinoma, cancer with high-grade microsatellite instability (MSI-H) or mismatch repair defects, cervical cancer, renal cell carcinoma, endometrial carcinoma, triple-negative breast cancer, adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction, cholangiocarcinoma.

The estimated price of Pembroria is about 18 million VND/bottle, with the usual dose being 2 bottles for 1 treatment cycle. Thus, the cost for a patient's treatment cycle is about 36 million VND with a dose of 200mg (2 bottles).

"Not all patients with the cancers listed above are prescribed pembrolizumab. The use of pembrolizumab depends on many factors such as: the patient's health status, tumor mutation type, disease stage... assessed by oncologists.

At K Hospital, treatment will be personalized for each patient. Based on many factors, doctors will advise and provide appropriate treatment regimens to ensure effective treatment for patients," affirmed the leader of K Hospital.

This expert also said that this immunotherapy drug is used alone or in combination with chemotherapy to increase response rates and prolong progression-free survival of cancer patients.

Treatment is aimed at prolonging the patient's life, not at curing late-stage cancer.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/pembroria-khong-phai-thuoc-dac-tri-chua-dut-diem-ung-thu-20251114144106634.htm