Amivantamab plus Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Rare Lung Cancer

The final results of the PAPILLON trial have confirmed that amivantamab, when combined with standard chemotherapy, delivers a durable clinical benefit and the longest median overall survival (OS) ever reported for patients with a rare form of lung cancer. The study, which has been hailed as a landmark in the field, now establishes a new standard of care for this difficult‑to‑treat disease.

In the randomized, phase III trial, patients with advanced non‑small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations received either chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy plus amivantamab. The addition of the antibody extended median overall survival to 24.7 months versus 18.4 months in the chemotherapy‑only arm, with a median progression‑free survival of 8.5 months. The safety profile remained consistent with prior reports, and the benefit was maintained across diverse patient subgroups.

These findings solidify amivantamab’s role in treating this rare lung cancer subtype and underscore the importance of targeted therapy in improving long‑term outcomes for patients previously limited to conventional chemotherapy.