A new type of cancer treatment which is given via an injection under the skin has shown early signs of success in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.
Results of the phase Ib/II Orig-AMI 4 clinical trial, presented today at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2025 Congress by scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, have shown that the drug called amivantamab, which is given as a simple injection, could shrink or halt tumour growth.
A difficult-to-treat cancer
Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, with around 12,800 new cases each year in the UK alone. It is usually treated with surgery and radiotherapy. However, once the disease spreads or returns, it is generally treated with immunotherapy and platinum-based chemotherapy. If such treatment fails to control the disease, further options are limited – and the only approved targeted therapy, cetuximab, helps a limited number of patients.
The Orig-AMI 4 trial is testing amivantamab, both alone and in combination with other drugs, in people with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) – a difficult-to-treat cancer that often returns after standard therapies.
The trial involved 55 sites in 11 countries around the world, including a team led by Professor Kevin Harrington at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
Next generation drug targets cancer in three ways
Amivantamab, which is being developed by Johnson & Johnson and has already been approved for a type of lung cancer, is a type of treatment called a bispecific monoclonal antibody – a next-generation drug that targets cancer in three ways.
Firstly, it works by blocking EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), a protein that helps tumours grow. It also blocks MET, a separate pathway that cancer cells often use to escape treatment. Finally, it helps activate the immune system to attack the tumour.
One group of patients in the study, who had already received both immunotherapy and chemotherapy, were given amivantamab on its own.
Results showed most patients experienced a benefit
The results show that 76 per cent of this group of patients experienced clinical benefit from the therapy, meaning their cancer either shrank or stopped growing.