Cancer patients across England will soon receive their immunotherapy treatment through a one-minute injection instead of sitting through two-hour hospital sessions. The NHS is rolling out a new injectable form of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), a widely-used cancer drug that previously required lengthy intravenous infusions.

The change affects around 14,000 patients who start pembrolizumab therapy each year in England. Most will be eligible for the new subcutaneous injection, which is given just under the skin and can reduce treatment time by up to 90 percent. This shift represents one of the most significant improvements in cancer treatment convenience in recent years.

Pembrolizumab currently requires intravenous infusion that takes up to two hours per appointment when you include preparation and administration time. The new injection changes this dramatically. Depending on the cancer type, patients now receive either a one-minute injection every three weeks or a two-minute injection every six weeks.

The drug treats 14 different cancer types, including lung cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and cervical cancer. Pembrolizumab works by blocking a protein called PD-1, which normally acts as a brake on the immune system. By removing this brake, the drug helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells more effectively.

This change matters because cancer treatment has traditionally required patients to spend entire days at hospitals for what could theoretically be much shorter appointments. The time burden often creates additional stress for people already dealing with serious illness. Many patients struggle to maintain work schedules, family responsibilities, and social connections while managing regular lengthy hospital visits.

The benefits extend beyond patient convenience. IV pembrolizumab requires hospital pharmacy teams to prepare infusion bags under strict sterile conditions. This process is time-consuming and limits how many patients can be treated each day. The ready-to-use injection removes this preparation step entirely.

NHS leaders expect the change to free up significant clinical capacity:

• Pharmacy staff time currently spent on drug preparation
• Treatment chairs that were occupied for hours
• Clinic space that can now accommodate more patients
• Overall appointment slots that can be used more efficiently

Professor Peter Johnson, NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer, said the innovation allows patients to “get back to living their lives rather than spending hours in a hospital chair.” He noted that managing cancer treatment and regular hospital trips can be exhausting, and the rapid injection will make therapy “much quicker and more convenient for patients.”

The rollout fits into the NHS’s broader effort to modernize cancer care by adopting innovations that improve patient experience while making better use of limited resources. With cancer cases continuing to rise across England, health services need solutions that can handle growing demand without proportionally increasing resource requirements.

Patients who need pembrolizumab alongside other IV cancer treatments may continue to receive infusions where clinically appropriate. The new injection option gives doctors flexibility to choose the most suitable delivery method for each patient’s specific treatment plan.

This development comes as healthcare systems worldwide look for ways to deliver the same quality of care more efficiently. The pembrolizumab injection demonstrates how pharmaceutical innovations can address both patient quality of life and healthcare system capacity challenges simultaneously.