Amivantamab Shows Tumor Response in 43 of 102 Patients With Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Tumors shrank or disappeared in 43 of 102 patients with head and neck cancer who received the Johnson & Johnson drug amivantamab after prior treatments failed. The changes appeared within weeks of the first injection. Fifteen patients experienced complete disappearance of their tumors and 28 recorded measurable shrinkage.

The trial spanned 11 countries and enrolled patients whose disease had either spread or returned. 5 months after starting amivantamab. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide.

Kevin Harrington, professor in biological cancer therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said the responses were “unprecedentedly strong” in patients resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. ” The trial results will be presented Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.

Amivantamab targets a protein that helps tumors grow, blocks a pathway cancer cells use to resist treatment, and directs the immune system toward the tumor.

The same mechanism produced comparable results in certain lung cancers. Carl Walsh, 56, was diagnosed with tongue cancer in May 2024 and joined the trial in July 2025. ” Before treatment he struggled to speak and eat because of swelling and pain.

Amivantamab is currently under study in roughly 60 trials, most focused on lung cancer, with additional testing in colorectal, brain, and gastric cancers.