Three lung cancer patients saw brain tumors shrink with a drug mix
Original title: Intracranial activity of amivantamab combined with carboplatin and pemetrexed in epidermal growth factor receptor exon 20 insertion-positive non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases: a report of three cases.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
These drugs are already approved for this lung cancer, but the brain results come from only three patients.
The short version
In three patients, a drug mix shrank cancer that had spread to the brain.
What was studied. Doctors reported on three adults with advanced lung cancer. Each had a gene change called EGFR exon 20 insertion. All had small brain tumors that caused no symptoms. All three got amivantamab plus two chemo drugs, carboplatin and pemetrexed.
What they found. A 48-year-old woman had tumors shrink partly in her brain and body. A 67-year-old man had no brain tumor left on his scans. A 35-year-old man also had tumors shrink partly in his brain and body. That happened within two months.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This hints that amivantamab may act on tumors inside the brain. Doctors had wondered if this kind of drug could get there at all. People with this gene change and small brain tumors can ask their doctor about it.
What it doesn't mean: This is not proof. It is a report on three patients, with no comparison group. All three had small brain tumors and no symptoms from them. Results could be different for larger tumors or for people with symptoms. This is not a cure, and it does not change standard care by itself.
Source: PubMed, August 5, 2026 · Read the original
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