A pioneering immunotherapy treatment has significantly improved survival rates for patients with advanced head and neck cancer, according to results from a major international clinical trial.

Researchers say the drug pembrolizumab, administered both before and after surgery, helped double the average time patients remained cancer-free—from 2.5 years to five years—marking the first major treatment advance for this cancer type in two decades.

More than 350 patients took part in the trial, led in the UK by the Institute of Cancer Research. All had advanced head and neck cancers that had not yet spread beyond the affected region. A similar-sized group received standard treatment for comparison.

Professor Kevin Harrington, who oversaw the UK arm of the trial, explained that administering the drug pre-surgery allowed the immune system to better recognise and attack cancer cells. Post-surgery treatment helped sustain and strengthen that response for up to a year.

One patient, Laura Marston, 45, from Derbyshire, credits the treatment with saving her life. Diagnosed with aggressive tongue cancer in 2019, she was given only a 30% chance of surviving five years. Six years later, she’s healthy and working full-time.

“This immunotherapy gave me my life back,” she said. “I wasn’t expected to come this far.”

Trial results also showed a 10% reduction in the risk of cancer returning elsewhere in the body after three years.

Experts are now calling for the treatment to be approved for wider use on the NHS.

The findings from the Keynote trial, which involved 192 hospitals across 24 countries and was funded by MSD, are being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.

Source: BBC

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