New ‘game changer’ drug for head and neck cancer

The new drug, Nivolumab, boosts the patient’s immune system to fight tumours instead of using standard chemotherapy. It dramatically improved the survival rates of patients in recent US trials and experts say it could be a ‘game changer’ in fighting aggressive head and neck cancers.

The drug is currently available on the NHS for advanced skin cancer patients, although experts have said that further research needs to be done before the drug can be routinely offered to patients with other cancers.

This type of treatment, called immunotherapy, is being regarded as one of the most encouraging and exciting advances in cancer treatment in years and although it cannot cure all cancers, increasing evidence is showing that it can extend patients’ lives.

The Nivolumab trials, which took place at the American Association of Cancer Research, suggests that even in cases where the cancer is aggressive and advanced, the drug can extend patients’ lives by several months.

Professor Kevin Harrington, the UK trial leader, called the results “a potential game changer” for head and neck cancer, “introducing a new drug treatment into our armoury that at last is better than standard chemotherapy.”

He went on to say “Once it has relapsed or spread, head and neck cancer is extremely difficult to treat, with surgery and radiotherapy often impossible.

“So it is very good news for patients that these interim results indicate we now have a new treatment that works, and can significantly extend life.”

In the UK, around 10,000 patients are diagnosed with a head or neck cancer each year.

Cancer Research UK’s Dr Emma King, said “These results could have a significant impact for head and neck cancer patients who no longer respond to treatment.

“They also reinforce the important shift that we are seeing towards using immunotherapies for cancer treatment.

“Before Nivolumab can be used routinely to treat head and neck cancer in the UK, it will need to be approved by NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence).”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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