Doctors have hailed “unprecedented” trial results that show a triple-action cancer jab can eradicate entire tumours in patients.
The jab, called amivantamab, shrank the tumours of more than a third of patients, with dramatic changes seen within weeks.
Kevin Harrington, professor in biological cancer therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR), said: “These are unprecedentedly strong responses in patients whose disease has become resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
“This is a group of patients for whom treatment options are extremely limited, so seeing this level of benefit is very striking.”.
The results will be presented on Sunday in Chicago at the world’s largest cancer conference, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco).
In the trial, 102 patients with head and neck cancer, the world’s sixth most common cancer, were given the jab.
Tumours shrank or disappeared completely in 43 patients, including 28 whose tumours shrank significantly and 15 who saw them eradicated entirely. »