29 March 2026 - The Albanese Government is continuing to deliver cheaper medicines with thousands more Australians living with advanced and high risk cancers having access to affordable immunotherapy treatment on the PBS from 1 April 2026.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) will be expanded to include treatment of three new indications:

• High risk, locally advanced cervical cancer, which has spread beyond the cervix, but not to the distant organs. Over 950 Australian women in 2021 were diagnosed with cervical cancer.
• Renal cell carcinoma in patients at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence following surgery. Even after surgery, some patients face a high risk of the cancer returning or spreading. Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer with over 3,900 diagnosed in 2021.
• Locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma affecting more than 2,100 patients in 2021. The advanced form of carcinoma encompass a range of malignancies, including in the oral cavity, larynx, oropharynx, and hypopharynx. 

Read Minister for Health press release