A new “smart jab” has shown highly promising results in shrinking head and neck cancer tumours within just six weeks, offering new hope for patients with advanced forms of the disease.
The drug, amivantamab, is a triple-action therapy given as a simple injection rather than an intravenous infusion. It targets recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancers that have stopped responding to standard treatments such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
In an international clinical trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Berlin, 76% of patients treated with amivantamab saw their tumours shrink or stop growing. The average time before the disease worsened was 6.8 months, and most side effects were mild to moderate.
Prof Kevin Harrington, from the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, called the results “incredibly encouraging.” He said:
“This could represent a real shift in how we treat head and neck cancer – not just in terms of effectiveness, but also in how we deliver care.”
Amivantamab works by blocking two key cancer growth pathways — EGFR and MET — while also activating the immune system to attack tumour cells. Unlike many treatments that require long hospital sessions, the injection can be given quickly in outpatient settings and may even be suitable for at-home care in the future.
The Orig-AMI 4 trial, funded by Janssen, included 86 patients from 11 countries, including the UK. For participants like Carl Walsh, a 59-year-old from Birmingham with tongue cancer, the impact has been life-changing.
“Before starting the trial, I couldn’t talk properly and eating was difficult,” he said. “The swelling has gone down a lot, and I’m not in the same amount of pain. Sometimes I even forget that I have cancer.”
Researchers say the findings mark an important step toward more effective and accessible treatments for one of the world’s most challenging cancers.
