Trial shows new treatment could shrink tumours for those with complex and aggressive cancers

A trial has shown a new triple therapy may help to shrink tumours in patients with difficult-to-treat and aggressive cancers.

Researchers involved in the study said the treatment regime has the potential to "transform outcomes" for those living with a specific type of head and neck cancer.

One participant, a 29-year-old mother of three diagnosed with incurable tongue cancer, said the therapy gave her renewed hope after shrinking her disease by 60 per cent.

The international trial, conducted in part by the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, focused on head and neck cancers not linked to high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) that had metastasised or recurred.

The approach incorporated amivantamab, a synthetic antibody that targets two proteins to arrest tumour progression and mobilise the immune system.

The trial had previously shown that tumours shrank in 42 per cent of patients treated with amivantamab alone and 56 per cent with amivantamab plus pembrolizumab.

The latest phase tested amivantamab in combination with pembrolizumab and chemotherapy, with 29 patients included in the analysis.

Among the 22 patients with HPV-unrelated cancer, tumours shrank in 77 per cent.

This is more than double the current first-line treatment of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, which shrank tumours in 36 per cent of patients.

Meanwhile, three patients showed no detectable cancer.

The disease was stable in four patients while cancer progressed in one.

At the time of analysis, 11 of the 17 patients who responded to treatment continued to see their tumour shrink or remain stable.

In the UK, HPV is linked to about 12 per cent of tongue, tonsil, and roof-of-the-mouth cancers, and causes roughly 50 per cent to 70 per cent of oropharyngeal cancers, which occur in the throat or base of the tongue.

However, HPV-related and HPV-unrelated tumours “behave very differently”, experts said, though head and neck cancer has been “treated largely as one disease” for years.

Professor Kristian Helin, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “These results suggest we can do better by treating the biology.

“In this case, that means hitting the EGFR and MET signals that HPV-unrelated tumours rely on, while also helping the immune system attack the cancer.”

Royal Marsden patient Holly Stubbs, 29, from County Durham, was diagnosed with stage one tongue cancer in April 2025 when she was pregnant with her third child.

She had two operations and radiotherapy, but the disease returned a year later, and she was told it was incurable.

Ms Stubbs said: “When I was told my cancer was incurable and that there were no other treatment options available to me at my local hospital, I was desperate to find another way forward.”

After contacting researchers, she started the triple-combination therapy in July.

“Scans have already shown a 60 per cent reduction in my cancer and the intense pain I was previously experiencing disappeared within the first few weeks of starting treatment,” Ms Stubbs said.

“As a mum of three young children, being given another treatment option has meant everything to me. When I thought there was nothing else that could be done, the trial gave me hope.”

Following the findings, which will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2026 in Madrid, researchers will take the trial to Phase III.

Prof Helin said: “The numbers are still small, and the Phase III trial will be the real test.

“But this is the kind of rational, biology-driven drug combination that we believe will transform outcomes for patients with hard-to-treat cancers.”

Prof Kevin Harrington, professor of biological cancer therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and consultant clinical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: “These findings are particularly encouraging because the strongest activity was seen in patients with HPV-unrelated disease, who typically have poorer outcomes and fewer effective treatment options than patients with HPV-related cancers.

“The decision to take this regimen forward into a global Phase III trial reflects the confidence these results have given us and provides an important opportunity to determine whether it can improve outcomes for patients.”