Doctors have hailed “incredibly encouraging” trial results that showed a smart, triple-action injection could shrink tumors in head and neck cancer patients within six weeks.
Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common form of the disease in the world. If it spreads or returns after standard treatment, patients may be offered immunotherapy and platinum chemotherapy. But if this fails, doctors often can’t do much.
Research has shown that a drug called amivantamab, given as an injection, can shrink tumors in patients with recurrent or metastatic cancer who have tried immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Details were presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress in Berlin.
Professor Kevin Harrington, Professor of Biological Cancer Therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research London, and Consultant Oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Seeing this level of benefit for patients who have undergone multiple treatments is very encouraging.
“This could represent a real shift in how head and neck cancer is treated – not only in terms of effectiveness, but also in how care is delivered.”
He added: “This is the first time we have tested this type of triple-action therapy for head and neck cancer patients whose disease has returned after treatment. Amivantamab is a smart drug that not only blocks two main cancer pathways, but also helps the immune system do its job.”
“Unlike many cancer treatments that require long hours in a hospital chair, amivantamab is given as a simple injection under the skin. This makes delivery faster, more convenient, and perhaps easier on an outpatient basis – or even at home in the future.”
The Orig-AMI 4 trial, funded by pharmaceutical company Janssen, included patients from 11 countries, including the UK. Each had recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) – a form that is difficult to treat and often returns after standard treatments.
One group of 86 patients in the study who received immunotherapy and chemotherapy were given amivantamab. Early results showed that 76% of this group saw their tumors shrink or stop growing.
Responses were seen within six weeks on average and treatment was generally well tolerated. Most side effects were mild to moderate. The median progression-free survival for patients receiving amivantamab alone was 6.8 months.
Amivantamab is a drug that targets cancer in three ways. It blocks both EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), a protein that helps tumors grow, and MET, a pathway that cancer cells often use to escape treatment. It also helps activate the immune system to attack the tumor.
Carl Walsh has tongue cancer and joined the trial in July after chemotherapy and immunotherapy failed. The 59-year-old from Birmingham said: “I’m now on my seventh cycle of treatment. It’s working well so far and I’m very happy with the progress.”
“Before the trial started, I couldn’t speak properly and eating was difficult but the swelling has gone down a lot and I no longer have as much pain as I used to. Sometimes I forget I have cancer.”