Doctors are calling the results “unprecedented” after a new triple-action cancer injection eradicated entire tumors in patients whose disease had stopped responding to standard treatments. The findings, set to be presented at the world’s largest cancer conference, offer new hope for people with advanced head and neck cancer and other solid tumors that have run out of options.
The international trial, spanning 11 countries, tested amivantamab in 102 patients with head and neck cancer whose tumors had spread or returned after failing both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The results showed that tumors shrank or disappeared completely in 43 patients. Among them, 28 saw significant shrinkage, and in 15 patients the drug melted away their tumors entirely. Researchers described these as “unprecedentedly strong responses” in a group where treatment options are extremely limited. Patients lived for a median of 12.5 months after starting the treatment, a notable outcome for a form of cancer that usually carries a poor prognosis once standard therapies stop working.
The injection works through a three-pronged attack. It blocks EGFR, a protein that helps tumors grow, and MET, a pathway cancer cells often use to escape treatment. It also helps activate the immune system to target the tumor. Unlike many cancer drugs given through an intravenous drip, amivantamab is delivered as a small injection under the skin, making it quicker and easier to administer in outpatient clinics. Most side effects were mild to moderate, and fewer than one in 10 patients had to stop treatment. The drug, developed by Johnson & Johnson, is now being evaluated in about 60 clinical trials, primarily for lung cancer, but also for colorectal, brain and gastric cancers.
One of the first patients to benefit was Carl Walsh, 56, who was diagnosed with tongue cancer in May 2024. After standard treatments failed, he joined the trial at the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust. “After only two cycles of the treatment my diet started to return to normal,” he said. “The thing I enjoyed most was the first big steak. My speech is completely back to normal.” Researchers also noted that the trial focused on head and neck cancers not caused by HPV, which are typically harder to treat, making the progress in this group especially significant.
Researchers are now planning larger studies to confirm the results and expand the drug’s use. “This study demonstrates how the development of new treatments through rigorous cancer research may lead to meaningful advances, even for patients with very limited treatment options,” said Prof Kristian Helin, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research. With dozens of ongoing trials, the hope is that this smart jab could one day benefit thousands of patients each year across multiple cancer types.