Cancer jab delivers striking tumour breakthrough: Report

A new cancer injection has produced what researchers are calling “unprecedented” responses, including complete tumour eradication in a subset of patients with cancers resistant to chemotherapy and immunotherapy, The Guardian reports.

The British daily reported that a study, conducted across 11 countries, involved patients whose cancers had spread or returned and had stopped responding to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Researchers reportedly said the injection, amivantamab, produced rapid and significant responses, with tumour shrinkage observed within weeks in many cases.

Of 102 patients with head and neck cancer, the sixth most common cancer globally, tumours shrank or disappeared in 43 individuals, the report said.

This reportedly included 28 patients whose tumours reduced substantially and 15 in whom the disease was eliminated.

Kevin Harrington, professor in biological cancer therapies at London’s Institute of Cancer Research, told The Guardian: “These are unprecedentedly strong responses in patients whose disease has become resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy.”

He added, “This is a group of patients for whom treatment options are extremely limited, so seeing this level of benefit is very striking.”

Harrington, who is also a consultant oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This treatment has the potential to benefit many thousands of patients each year.”

The findings will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, the world’s largest cancer conference.

Researchers said similar responses had been observed in lung cancer patients, while amivantamab is currently being evaluated in around 60 clinical trials across multiple cancer types, including colorectal, brain and gastric cancers.

The drug, developed by Johnson & Johnson, targets cancer through three mechanisms: blocking EGFR, a protein that drives tumour growth; inhibiting the MET pathway, which cancer cells use to evade treatment; and activating the immune system to attack cancer cells.

Patients typically received the treatment as a small subcutaneous injection every three weeks, rather than intravenous infusions, making administration simpler and more accessible in outpatient settings.

Side effects were generally mild to moderate, with fewer than 10 percent of patients discontinuing treatment.

One patient, Carl Walsh, 56, from Birmingham, told The Guardian he had been diagnosed with tongue cancer in May 2024 and later enrolled in the OrigAMI-4 trial after standard treatments failed.

 “I was initially treated with both chemotherapy and immunotherapy, which unfortunately were not successful,” he was quoted as telling The Guardian. “At that point, I was recommended for the OrigAMI-4 trial.”

 “I’m now on my 17th cycle of treatment and I’m very pleased with the progress so far,” he added.

Researchers noted the trial focused on head and neck cancers without HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, a subgroup that generally responds better to treatment. Median overall survival in the study was 12.5 months after starting therapy.

Prof Kristian Helin, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, told The Guardian: “This study demonstrates how the development of new treatments through rigorous cancer research may lead to meaningful advances, even for patients with very limited treatment options.”