In a trial across 55 hospitals in 11 countries, amivantamab induced substantial tumour shrinkage in treatment-resistant head and neck cancer, with 42% responded and 15 complete responses among 102 participants.

Median overall survival reached 12.5 months after starting treatment, offering hope in a cancer with very poor prognosis after standard therapies fail.

Experts say the results could benefit thousands of patients annually and mark a meaningful advance for a cancer type with limited post-immunotherapy and platinum-based options.

The drug’s injections and mechanism may provide a meaningful new option for patients with HPV-negative head and neck cancers, a group typically harder to treat.

If validated in further studies, the therapy could impact about 12,800 people diagnosed with head and neck cancer in the UK each year.

Developed by Johnson & Johnson, the treatment is not yet standard of care for HNSCC, but shows unprecedented responses and is being presented at a major oncology conference.

Amivantamab is a bispecific antibody that blocks EGFR and MET signaling, activates the immune system, and is delivered by injection every three weeks with mild to moderate side effects and few discontinuations.

Beyond blocking growth pathways, amivantamab targets a resistance mechanism and mobilizes the immune response against tumors.

The drug is already approved for certain lung cancer subtypes and this study suggests potential expansion to hard-to-treat head and neck cancers pending broader confirmation.

Initial responses emerged within weeks of treatment and were described by doctors as unusually strong for this patient population.

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer globally, with about 12,800 UK cases annually in the UK, and the trial excluded HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer patients.

Amivantamab has prior approvals in some non-small-cell lung cancers and is being explored in around 60 trials across colorectal, brain, gastric and other cancers, signaling broad interest in its utility.