MHRA approves retifanlimab for advanced anal cancer

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has approved retifanlimab (Zynyz) for adults with squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal that cannot be removed by surgery and is metastatic or has recurred locally. The drug is given by intravenous infusion every four weeks, in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel for the first six cycles, and works by blocking a pathway cancer cells use to avoid detection by the immune system.

In a study of 308 people with metastatic or locally advanced disease, retifanlimab with chemotherapy increased the time patients lived without their cancer worsening compared with placebo with chemotherapy, the regulator said. The approval, granted on November 5, 2026 to Incyte Biosciences UK Ltd, follows the drug’s UK approval in July 2026 for advanced Merkel cell carcinoma.