- An injection called amivantamab, developed by Johnson & Johnson, has demonstrated "unprecedented" results in an 11-nation clinical trial for cancer patients whose disease had spread or returned after other treatments failed.
- The trial, involving 102 patients with head and neck cancer, reported that tumours shrank in over a third of participants, with 15 patients experiencing complete eradication of their tumours.
- The drug works by targeting a protein that aids tumour growth, blocking a pathway used by cancer cells to resist treatment, and activating the body's immune system to assist in fighting the cancer.
- Researchers noted that patients receiving amivantamab lived for a median of 12.5 months after starting treatment, despite having cancers with poor prognoses, with one patient, Carl Walsh, expressing significant satisfaction with his progress.
- The promising findings are scheduled to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, and the drug is currently undergoing testing in approximately 60 other clinical trials for various cancers, including lung, colorectal, brain, and gastric types.
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