Scientists have reported encouraging results from an international clinical trial of the new anticancer drug “amivantamab”, which, in a number of cases, led to the complete disappearance of tumors in patients with severe forms of head and neck cancer.
The results of the study were presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology—the world’s largest oncology conference—in Chicago, The Guardian reports.
The trial involved 102 patients from 11 countries. All had head and neck cancer that had either spread or recurred after treatment. In addition, the disease was no longer responding to standard therapies, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
According to the researchers, treatment with the drug caused tumors to shrink or disappear completely in 43 patients. In 28 patients, a significant reduction in tumor size was observed, while in 15 patients, doctors found no trace of the disease.
Professor Kevin Harrington described the results as unprecedented.
“This is an extraordinarily strong response to treatment in patients whose disease had become resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Treatment options for this group of patients are extremely limited, making these results particularly impressive.”
“Amivantamab”, a drug developed by Johnson & Johnson, works in three ways at once: it blocks the EGFR protein, which promotes tumor growth; suppresses the MET signaling pathway, which cancer cells use to evade therapy; and activates the immune system to fight the tumor.
One of the study participants was 56-year-old Carl Walsh from Birmingham. After standard treatment failed, he was enrolled in the OrigAMI-4 trial. According to Walsh, his condition improved significantly after just a few rounds of therapy.
Before starting treatment, the man experienced severe pain, had difficulty speaking and eating, and had also lost weight. However, after a few months, the swelling had decreased significantly, the pain had eased, and his ability to speak and eat normally had been fully restored.
An important feature of the new drug is its method of administration. Unlike many modern oncology drugs, which require lengthy intravenous infusions, “amivantamab” is administered as a small subcutaneous injection once every three weeks. This makes the treatment significantly more convenient for both patients and healthcare providers.
The researchers also emphasize that the study focused on a particularly challenging group of patients: those whose head and neck tumors are not associated with human papillomavirus (HPV). Such forms of the disease are typically more difficult to treat and are associated with a less favorable prognosis.
Despite the severity of the disease and the failure of previous treatments, the participants had a median overall survival of 12.5 months after starting treatment, which experts consider an encouraging outcome for this group of patients.
Professor Christian Helin, head of the Cancer Research Institute, noted that the findings demonstrate the potential of modern cancer research and could represent an important step forward for patients who have few remaining treatment options.
