Cancer

Study: Cancer Jab Eliminates Tumors in Patients

Is amivantamab a genuine breakthrough for head and neck cancer patients or a promising drug that demands cautious optimism?

Published MAY 31

Study: Cancer Jab Eliminates Tumors in Patients

Story

Above: A tumor is detected using an MRI at the radiology department of the University Medicine in Rostock, Germany, on Nov. 17, 2017. Image credit: Bernd Wüstneck/picture alliance/Getty Images

The Facts

Results from the international OrigAMI-4 trial, conducted across 55 hospitals in 11 countries, showed that the drug amivantamab shrank or eliminated tumors in 43 of 102 patients with head and neck cancer that had stopped responding to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
The Irish Times
The Star
Of the 43 patients who responded, 15 saw their tumors disappear entirely and 28 experienced significant shrinkage. Tumors began responding within about six weeks, and patients lived a median of 12.5 months after starting treatment.
The Telegraph & Argus
Independent
Newsmax
Amivantamab, developed by Johnson & Johnson, targets cancer in three ways: blocking the EGFR protein that promotes tumor growth, inhibiting the MET pathway that cancer cells use to evade treatment, and activating the immune system against tumors.
mirror.co.uk
guardian
Unlike many cancer treatments requiring intravenous drips, amivantamab is administered as a subcutaneous injection every three weeks. Side effects were mild to moderate, and fewer than one in 10 patients stopped treatment because of them.
The Irish Times
Independent
Johnson & Johnson
The OrigAMI-4 trial focused on HPV-negative head and neck cancers, which are generally harder to treat than HPV-related cancers. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, affecting around 12,800 people in the U.K. each year.
mirror.co.uk
The Star
Amivantamab has already received approval for multiple subtypes of lung cancer and is currently being evaluated in approximately 60 clinical trials for lung, colorectal, brain and gastric cancers. The OrigAMI-4 findings were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting on Sunday.
The Telegraph & Argus
guardian
The Institute of Cancer Research

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Amivantamab is a genuine breakthrough for head and neck cancer patients who've exhausted every other option — tumors shrank in more than a third of patients, and survival stretched to a median of 12.5 months versus the typical three to six. A quick five-minute injection every three weeks with minimal side effects makes this treatment far more livable than chemotherapy, and it has the potential to help thousands of patients annually.

The Telegraph

Narrative B

Amivantamab's trial results deserve cautious optimism, not celebration — only 15 of 102 patients saw tumors fully disappear, and the real test comes when this drug moves beyond tightly controlled trial conditions. The subcutaneous delivery and mild side-effect profile are genuinely promising practical advantages, but headline numbers like "tumors eliminated" create pressure to expand use beyond patients most likely to benefit.