A new treatment is offering hope to cancer patients after producing unprecedentedly strong responses in cases where the disease had become resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Doctors have described the results of the new clinical trial as “unprecedented,” showing that a triple-action anti-cancer injection can completely eliminate tumors in some patients.

In the international study, conducted across 11 countries, the treatment was administered to patients whose cancer had spread or recurred and was no longer responding to available therapies.

The injection, called amivantamab, led to tumor shrinkage in more than one in three patients, with remarkable results observed within just a few weeks. In 15 cases, doctors found that the tumors had disappeared entirely.

Kevin Harrington, Professor of Biological Cancer Therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, said:

“These are unprecedentedly strong responses in patients whose disease has become resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. This is a group of patients with extremely limited treatment options, so the level of benefit we are seeing is truly impressive.”

Harrington, who is also a consultant oncologist at Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, added:

“This treatment has the potential to benefit many thousands of patients every year.”

The trial included 102 patients with head and neck cancer, the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide. Tumors shrank or disappeared completely in 43 patients. Of these, 28 experienced significant tumor reduction, while in 15 patients the tumors were eliminated entirely.

Researchers reported that similar results were also observed in patients with lung cancer. Amivantamab, developed by Johnson & Johnson, is currently being evaluated in approximately 60 clinical trials, primarily for lung cancer, but also for colorectal, brain, and stomach cancers.

How the New Treatment Works

The “smart” injection targets cancer through three different mechanisms.

It blocks the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein that contributes to tumor growth, while also inhibiting the MET pathway, which cancer cells often use to evade treatment. At the same time, it activates the immune system, enabling it to attack the tumor.

“I Was Able to Return to a Normal Life”

One of the first patients to benefit from the treatment is 56-year-old Carl Walsh, who was diagnosed with tongue cancer in May 2024 and enrolled in the OrigAMI-4 study at Royal Marsden in July 2025.

“Initially, I underwent chemotherapy and immunotherapy, which unfortunately did not work,” he said. “I was then offered the opportunity to participate in the OrigAMI-4 trial. I am now in my 17th treatment cycle and very pleased with the progress so far.”

Administration Method and Side Effects

Unlike many cancer treatments, amivantamab is administered by subcutaneous injection rather than intravenous infusion, making the process faster and more convenient for both patients and outpatient clinics.

Most side effects were mild to moderate, while fewer than one in ten patients had to discontinue treatment.

Walsh, a resident of Birmingham, described the dramatic improvement in his condition:

“I now feel that I can live a normal life. Before starting treatment, I struggled to speak and eat because of the swelling and pain. Since beginning treatment, the swelling has reduced significantly and the pain has eased considerably. In addition, I no longer experience the severe side effects I had during chemotherapy.”

He explained that when his condition was at its worst, he could consume only soups, rice pudding, canned ravioli or spaghetti, and many omelets, while supplementing his diet with three specialized nutritional drinks per day.

“I lost a considerable amount of weight. However, after just two treatment cycles, my diet began returning to normal, and after six months I was able to eat normally again. The first large beef steak I ate was an incredible pleasure. My speech has fully recovered, and I can now speak normally at work without any problems.”

Progress for Difficult Cancer Cases

Researchers also emphasized that the study focused on head and neck cancers that are not associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV).

This is particularly significant because non-HPV-related head and neck cancers are generally more difficult to treat, making progress in this patient group especially important.

Patients who received amivantamab survived for an average of 12.5 months after starting treatment, despite suffering from a form of cancer with a very poor prognosis once standard therapies cease to be effective.

Christian Helin, Chief Executive of the ICR, said:

“This study demonstrates how the development of new treatments through rigorous scientific research can lead to meaningful advances even for patients with very limited treatment options. Achieving this level of tumor response and the encouraging survival outcomes in such a difficult-to-treat patient population represents a significant step forward.”