New Cancer Drug Clears Tumors in Trial Breakthrough

An international clinical trial spanning 11 countries has produced what scientists describe as "unprecedented" results in cancer treatment. The injectable drug amivantamab was administered to patients whose disease had returned or spread after failing to respond to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Of 102 head and neck cancer patients enrolled in the trial, tumors shrank or disappeared entirely in 43, with complete tumor elimination recorded in 15. The drug showed a similar effect in lung cancer patients.

Amivantamab works through a triple mechanism, blocking two processes that promote tumor growth while also activating the immune system. It is administered by subcutaneous injection once every three weeks, and side effects were mostly mild to moderate.

Professor Kevin Harrington of the Institute of Cancer Research in London described the results as an "unprecedentedly strong response" in patients who had exhausted available treatment options, and said the therapy could benefit thousands of patients a year.

(guardian, bak)