A new cancer treatment can wipe out tumours in terminally ill patients, scientists have revealed.

According to researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, and the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust, a cocktail of immunotherapy medications harnessed patients’ immune systems to kill their own cancer cells and prompted “a positive trend in survival.”

Speaking to The Guardian, one patient, who was expected to die four years ago, said that he was told by the nurses that his tumour had “completely disappeared.”

This is because the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab medications led to a reduction in the size of tumours in the terminally ill head and neck patients. 

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In some, their cancer vanished altogether.

Experts believe that combing the two immunotherapy drugs could prove an effective new weapon against different cancers.

The scientists said that the immunotherapy treatment also triggered far fewer side-effects compared to “extreme” chemotherapy, which is the standard treatment offered to many patients with advanced cancer.

Professor Kristian Helin, the ICR chief executive, while speaking with The Guardian said, “These are promising results.”

“Immunotherapies are kinder, smarter treatments that can bring significant benefits to patients.”

Nearly 12,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Out of this, many are diagnosed at an advanced stage.