A trial has shown a new triple therapy may help to shrink tumours in patients with difficult-to-treat and aggressive cancers.

Researchers involved in the study said the treatment regime has the potential to "transform outcomes" for those living with a specific type of head and neck cancer.

One participant, a 29-year-old mother of three diagnosed with incurable tongue cancer, said the therapy gave her renewed hope after shrinking her disease by 60 per cent.

The international trial, conducted in part by the Institute of Cancer Research , London , and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, focused on head and neck cancers not linked to high-risk human papillomavirus ( HPV ) that had metastasised or recurred.

The approach incorporated amivantamab, a synthetic antibody that targets two proteins to arrest tumour progression and mobilise the immune system.

The trial had previously shown that tumours shrank in 42 per cent of patients treated with amivantamab alone and 56 per cent with amivantamab plus…