Hello and thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear that you are being treated for cancer in your neck.

Nivolumab is a type of immunotherapy, which is a type of targeted cancer treatment and it is good to hear that for you this is working. The current recommendations is that it is given for up to 2 years. 

NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) provides the NHS in England and Wales with clinical guidance and treatment recommendations. Within its recent clinical guidance called: 'Nivolumab for Treating Recurrent or Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck after Platinum-based Chemotherapy' the duration of how long it should be given was discussed and this is what it says (this is copied and pasted from the guidance):

In this guidance review, the patient experts and the clinical expert agreed that people might be disappointed if treatment was beneficial but was stopped at 2 years. The clinical expert confirmed that people who can tolerate and benefit from treatment should be able to have it until their disease progresses, or they have intolerable side effects or choose to stop' It also says this: 'in this instance, the committee concluded that a stopping rule was not appropriate,You can see the whole guidance here 

This recommendation is recent (20th October 2021)  and NICE say that the implementation of the whole guidance for NHS England in hospitals should start within 3 months. I am afraid I do not know if this means that you will not have to stop the treatment at 2 years so do discuss this further with your cancer team.

Also with evidence that was gathered from clinical trials this NICE recommendation says that the drug can for some people carry on working for 5 years after treatment starts.

This is a lot of information to take on so do talk with your cancer team about it and what it could mean for you. 

Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take care,

Caroline