A new injectable cancer drug may offer hope to people with recurrent head and neck cancer

A new triple-acting drug given by simple injection is showing promise for people whose head and neck cancer has returned. – Image credit Institute of Cancer Research

CANCER DIGEST – Oct. 26, 2025 – A simple injection of a new type of drug may offer new hope for patients whose head an neck cancers return after chemotherapy and immunotherapy, results of an ongoing early phase clinical trial show.

The preliminary results of the phase Ib/II Orig-AMI 4 trial were presented Oct. 19, 2025 at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2025 Congress in Berlin, Germany. The trial is testing a new drug that is given as a shot into muscle tissue or subcutaneous injection.

The drug, called amivantamab, developed by the trial sponsor Johnson & Johnson, takes a three-pronged approach to treating cancer and has already been approved for a type of lung cancer. It works by blocking a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which helps tumors grow. It also blocks another gene, called MET, that plays a role in providing cancer cells a pathway to escape cancer treatment, and it activates the immune system to attack the tumor.  

In the trial conducted at 55 cancer centers in 11 countries, one group of 86 patients who had previously been treated with immunotherapy and chemotherapy 76 percent had a response to the drug, meaning their tumors shrank or stopped growing. 

The responses were seen within six weeks of receiving the first injection, and progression free survival for patients receiving amivantamab alone was 6.8 months, meaning the average amount of  time before these patients’ tumors resumed growing. As of July 2025, 53 of the 86 patients were continuing to receive the new drug.

Lead investigator Kevin Harrington, MD, PhD and professor of biological cancer therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research, London said in a press release that this is the first time this kind of triple-action drug has been used in head and neck cancer patients whose cancer has returned after treatment.

"Unlike many cancer treatments that require hours in a hospital chair, amivantamab is given as an injection under the skin. This makes it faster, more convenient, and potentially easier to deliver in outpatient clinics," Harrington said. "To see this level of benefit for patients who have endured numerous treatments is incredibly encouraging. This could represent a real shift in how we treat head and neck cancer – not just in terms of effectiveness, but also in how we deliver care."

Sources: Institute of Cancer Research press release