‘Unprecedented’ results of new cancer therapy demonstrate significant progress
A novel triple-action cancer drug eliminated nearly 50% of head and neck tumors in patients who received the treatment, according to a news article from The Guardian.
In the Phase 1b/2 OrigAMI-4 clinical trial, the results of which were presented as an abstract at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers assigned 102 patients with HPV-unrelated recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer who did not respond to platinum-based chemotherapy or a PD-(L)1 inhibitor to receive the EGFR-MET bispecific antibody amivantamab injections for a median of 12.5 months. They explained that the treatment works by inhibiting the EGFR protein and MET pathway — which aid cancer cells in progression and treatment evasion — as well as activating an immune response.
The researchers discovered that amivantamab shrank the tumors of 28 of the patients and eliminated the tumors of 15 patients with mostly mild to moderate adverse effects. Separate studies have confirmed the efficacy of amivantamab in patients with lung cancer, with further studies examining its potential in colorectal cancer, gastric cancer and brain tumors.
Because patients with advanced HPV-negative head and neck tumors typically have limited treatment options and poor outcomes, amivantamab — administered as an injection rather than intravenously — represents an accessible new strategy to eradicate cancers that have progressed to later stages.
Read more: The Guardian
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