A new immunotherapy can greatly extend the lives of a proportion of people with advanced head and neck cancer, with some living for three years or more, a major new clinical trial reports.

Immunotherapy on its own is better than aggressive chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced head and neck cancer, according to surprising new data from a major phase III clinical trial.

Scientists have identified a pattern of genetic changes that could pick out men with advanced prostate cancer who are likely to benefit from immunotherapy.