Cancer breakthrough?

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A new cancer treatment has completely eliminated tumors in some patients with advanced head and neck cancer whose disease had stopped responding to standard treatments, the Guardian reported on Saturday.

Results from the international OrigAMI-4 trial showed that the experimental drug amivantamab shrank or eliminated tumors in 43 of 102 patients whose cancer had spread or returned after chemotherapy and immunotherapy failed.

Among them, 15 patients saw their tumors disappear completely.

Kevin Harrington of the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust called the results "unprecedentedly strong responses" in patients with few remaining treatment options.

"This is a group of patients for whom treatment options are extremely limited, so seeing this level of benefit is very striking," Harrington said.

The findings will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Amivantamab attacks cancer in three ways.

It blocks the EGFR protein that helps tumors grow, blocks the MET pathway that cancer cells often use to escape treatment, and helps activate the immune system to attack tumors.

Researchers said the drug is given as a small injection under the skin rather than through an IV, making treatment faster and easier to administer.

Most side effects were mild to moderate, and fewer than one in 10 patients stopped treatment because of them.

One patient, Carl Walsh, 56, of Birmingham, joined the trial after chemotherapy and immunotherapy failed to control his tongue cancer.

"I was initially treated with both chemotherapy and immunotherapy, which unfortunately were not successful," Walsh said.

"At that point, I was recommended for the OrigAMI-4 trial," he said.

Walsh said the treatment significantly improved his quality of life.

"I now feel able to live a normal life," he said.

"Since beginning treatment, the swelling has reduced significantly, and my pain levels have improved considerably," he said.

He added that after two treatment cycles he began eating normally again and eventually enjoyed "the first big steak" after months of eating soft foods.

Researchers noted that the study focused on HPV-negative head and neck cancers, which are generally harder to treat and have worse outcomes than HPV-related cancers.

Patients in the trial lived a median of 12.5 months after starting treatment despite having advanced disease that had progressed after standard therapies.

The results remain preliminary and larger studies will be needed to confirm the benefits.

Amivantamab, developed by Johnson & Johnson, is currently being studied in about 60 clinical trials, including for lung, colorectal, brain, and stomach cancers.

Kristian Helin, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said the findings represent "a significant step forward" for patients with very limited treatment options.

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