Cancer treatment destroyed tumours in some patients: what the study revealed
The Guardian reports on the findings of the study.
What the study showed
Doctors have reported “unprecedentedly strong” results from trials of the injectable drug amivantamab in patients with head and neck cancer.
These are people in whom the disease has spread or returned after previous treatment, and for whom standard methods – chemotherapy and immunotherapy – have failed to produce results.
A total of 102 patients took part in the international trial. Tumours shrank or disappeared completely in 43 people. Of these, tumours shrank significantly in 28 patients and disappeared completely in 15.
What is this drug?
Amivantamab is a triple-action targeted drug.
It blocks EGFR – a protein that helps tumours grow – as well as MET – a pathway that cancer cells often use to evade treatment.
In addition, the drug helps to activate the immune system so that it attacks the tumour.
Unlike many cancer drugs, amivantamab is not administered via an intravenous drip, but as a small injection under the skin. Treatment was administered once every three weeks.
Who might benefit from the treatment
The study involved patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.
It is particularly important that the trial focused on patients with tumours not associated with HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Such forms of cancer are usually more difficult to treat, so a positive response in this group is of particular significance.
Professor Kevin Harrington of the Institute of Cancer Research in London stated that for patients whose disease has become resistant to chemotherapy and immunotherapy, treatment options are very limited. According to him, this level of response to therapy is a very significant result.
What is known about survival and side effects
Patients who received amivantamab lived for an average of 12.5 months after starting treatment. The researchers emphasise that this is significant for a group with a very poor prognosis once standard treatments stop working.
Most side effects were mild or moderate.
Fewer than one in ten patients had to stop treatment due to side effects.
One patient’s story
One of the first participants in the trial was 56-year-old Carl Walsh from Birmingham. He was diagnosed with tongue cancer in May 2024, and in July 2025 he joined the OrigAMI-4 trial at the Royal Marsden.
Prior to this, he had undergone chemotherapy and immunotherapy, but these had not been successful.
According to Walsh, before starting the new treatment, he found it difficult to speak and eat due to swelling and pain. After starting the therapy, the swelling reduced significantly, the pain eased, and he was eventually able to return to a normal diet and speech.
Where else is the drug being tested
Amivantamab was developed by Johnson & Johnson.
The drug is currently being evaluated in approximately 60 clinical trials. The main focus is on lung cancer, but its use in colorectal, brain and stomach cancer is also being investigated.
According to Johnson & Johnson, the company has submitted an application to the FDA to expand the drug’s use for this indication.
Why this matters
Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide.
For patients whose disease has returned or spread following previous treatment, treatment options are often very limited. That is why results showing complete tumour disappearance in some patients are being hailed as a significant step forward.
At the same time, this does not mean that the drug is already a universal ‘cure for cancer’. We are talking about a specific clinical trial, a specific group of patients and a drug that is still undergoing evaluation for wider use.
What’s next
The study results are due to be presented in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – the world’s largest oncology conference.
Further studies should show how long the response to treatment lasts, which patients benefit most, and whether the drug could become a standard option for certain forms of head and neck cancer.
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