Smart jab can shrink head and neck cancer tumours within six weeks, trial finds | Cancer research
Doctors have welcomed “incredibly encouraging” trial results which show a triple-action smart vaccine can shrink tumors in head and neck cancer patients within six weeks.
Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common form of disease worldwide. If the disease spreads or returns after standard treatment, patients may be offered platinum-based immunotherapy and chemotherapy. But if that fails, there’s often little else doctors can do.
Research has shown that a drug called amivantamab, given by injection, can shrink tumors in patients with recurrent or metastatic cancer who have tried immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Details were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Berlin.
Professor Kevin Harrington, Professor of Biological Cancer Therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research in 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 incredibly encouraging.
“This could represent a real game-changer in the way we treat head and neck cancer – not only in terms of effectiveness, but also in the way we deliver care. »
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 come back after treatment. Amivantamab is a smart drug that not only blocks two key cancer pathways, but also helps the immune system do its job.”
“Unlike many cancer treatments that require hours in a hospital chair, amivantamab is administered as a simple injection under the skin. This makes it faster, more convenient and potentially easier to administer in an outpatient clinic – or even at home in the future.”
The Orig-AMI 4 trial, funded by pharmaceutical company Janssen, involved patients from 11 countries, including the United Kingdom. Each suffered from recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) – a difficult-to-treat form that often returns after standard therapies.
A group of 86 study patients, who received immunotherapy and chemotherapy, received amivantamab. Initial results show that 76% of this group saw their tumors shrink or stop growing.
Responses were observed within an average of six weeks and treatment was generally well tolerated. Most side effects were mild to moderate. The average progression-free survival of 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 promotes tumor growth, and MET, a pathway that cancer cells often use to evade treatment. This also helps activate the immune system to attack the tumor.
Carl Walsh suffers from tongue cancer and joined the trial in July after chemotherapy and immunotherapy failed. “I’m now on my seventh cycle of treatment. It’s working well so far and I’m very happy with the progress,” said the 59-year-old from Birmingham.
“Before I started the trial, I couldn’t speak properly and eating was difficult, but the swelling has gone down a lot and I don’t feel the same pain as before. Sometimes I even forget that I have cancer.”
