Amivantamab Shows Tumor Responses in 43 of 102 Patients with Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
An international trial found the Johnson & Johnson drug shrank or eliminated tumors in 43 of 102 patients whose disease had resisted prior chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Results will be presented Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.
The GuardianAn international clinical trial found that amivantamab shrank or eliminated tumors in 43 of 102 patients with advanced head and neck cancer. The drug, developed by Johnson & Johnson, was given as a subcutaneous injection once every three weeks. Fifteen patients experienced complete tumor eradication.
Twenty-eight others had significant shrinkage. Dramatic changes appeared within weeks of the first dose. The trial enrolled patients across 11 countries whose cancer had returned or spread after failing chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Head and neck cancer is the world’s sixth most common cancer. Kevin Harrington, professor in biological cancer therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and consultant oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust, said the responses were unprecedented.
“These are unprecedentedly strong responses in patients whose disease has become resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy,” he stated.
Harrington added that the results were striking for a group with extremely limited options and that the treatment could benefit many thousands of patients each year. Carl Walsh, 56, from Birmingham, joined the OrigAMI-4 trial at the Royal Marsden in July 2025 after his May 2024 tongue-cancer diagnosis. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy had failed.
He is now on his 17th cycle. Walsh said the swelling and pain that had made speaking and eating difficult have eased. “My speech is completely back to normal and at work I speak regularly on headsets without problems,” he stated.
He also described returning to a full diet after six months on the drug. Amivantamab blocks EGFR and MET signaling pathways and activates the immune system against the tumor. Most side-effects were mild to moderate; fewer than one in 10 patients stopped treatment.
5 months after starting therapy. The trial excluded HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, focusing on harder-to-treat disease. Amivantamab is now being tested in about 60 trials, mainly for lung cancer but also for colorectal, brain and gastric cancers.
Researchers reported similar tumor responses in lung-cancer patients. Prof Kristian Helin, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said the study shows how new treatments developed through rigorous research can produce meaningful advances even when options are limited.
The findings will be presented on Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.
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