A significant breakthrough in immunotherapy has shown that a specific treatment can ward off head and neck cancers for twice as long as the standard treatment. The study, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, involved over 700 patients across 24 countries.
The immunotherapy drug, pembrolizumab, stimulates the immune system to fight cancer cells. In the trial, patients who received this drug in combination with standard care had an average survival time of five years, compared to 30 months for those receiving only standard treatment.
This discovery is notable because it marks a first-of-its-kind effect seen with an immunotherapy drug. The study’s results have implications for hundreds of thousands of patients diagnosed with head and neck cancers each year.
Pembrolizumab worked particularly well for patients with high levels of the immune marker PD-L1, but its benefits were seen across all types of head and neck cancers. Researchers say this treatment has the potential to change the world for patients with cancer that has spread or returned.
One patient, Laura Marston from Derbyshire, who joined the trial after being diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer in 2019, said she is “amazed” to still be alive six years later, crediting the treatment for giving her a “gift of life.” The study’s findings were hailed as “wonderful” by the Institute of Cancer Research.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/may/31/neck-and-head-cancer-breakthrough-drug-immunotherapy