Treatment of Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer

Phase Ib/II Clinical Study Evaluating the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Preliminary Efficacy of TQB2922 Injection (Subcutaneous) in the Treatment of Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer

This study is a Phase Ib/II study of TQB2922 injection (subcutaneous). In the Phase Ib stage, a 3+3 dose-escalation design was used to determine the RP2D and pharmacokinetic characteristics of TQB2922 injection (subcutaneous) administered once every 3 weeks in subjects with R/M HNC. The Phase II stage explored the efficacy and safety of TQB2922 (subcutaneous) as monotherapy or in combination therapy in subjects with R/M HNC.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: TQB2922 Subcutaneous Injection

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 128
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Kunyu Yang, Doctor; Phone Number: 13995595360; Email: Yangky71@aliyun.com

Study Locations

• China
  • Beijing Municipality
    • Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China, 100021
      • Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
      • Contact: Junlin Yi, Doctor; Phone Number: 13661217998; Email: yijunlin1969@163.com
  • Guangdong
    • Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 510060
      • Sun yat-sen University Cancer Center
      • Contact: Zhiming Li, Doctor; Phone Number: 13719189172; Email: lzmlzmlzm@yahoo.com
  • Guangxi
    • Nanning, Guangxi, China, 530012
      • Guangxi Cancer InstituteGuangxi Cancer Hospital
      • Contact: Song Qu, Doctor; Phone Number: 13607887386; Email: 13607887386@163.com
  • Hubei
    • Wuhan, Hubei, China, 430079
      • Hubei Cancer Hospital
      • Contact: Jian Chen, Master; Phone Number: 18971493507; Email: Chenjian2003@aliyun.com
    • Wuhan, Hubei, China, 430023
      • Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
      • Contact: Kunyu Yang, Doctor; Phone Number: 13995595360; Email: Yangky71@aliyun.com
  • Hunan
    • Changsha, Hunan, China, 410013
      • Hunan Cancer Hospital
      • Contact: JinGuan Lin, Master; Phone Number: 13307318568; Email: linjinguan@hnca.org.cn
  • Liaoning
    • Shenyang, Liaoning, China, 110001
      • The First Hospital of China Medical University
      • Contact: Qiao Qiao, Doctor; Phone Number: 13889368446; Email: qiaojiang120@126.com
  • Shanxi
    • Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, 030000
      • Shanxi Cancer Hospital
      • Contact: Ruyuan Guo, Master; Phone Number: 13513649615; Email: 921231394@qq.com
  • Sichuan
    • Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 610000
      • West China Medical Center,Sichuan Medical University
      • Contact: Lei Liu, Doctor; Phone Number: 18980606231; Email: clinical_liu66@163.com
  • Tianjin Municipality
    • Tianjin, Tianjin Municipality, China, 300000
      • Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital
      • Contact: Peiguo Wang, Doctor; Phone Number: 18622221196; Email: wangpeiguo@tjmuch.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• The subject voluntarily enrolls in the study, signs the informed consent form, and has good compliance.
• Aged 18 to 75 years inclusive (calculated on the date of informed consent signing).
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status score of 0-1.
• Expected survival > 12 weeks.
• Subjects with histologically or cytologically confirmed recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer (R/M HNC) and no indication for curative local therapy.head and neck cancer (HNC)
• At least one measurable lesion per RECIST 1.1 criteria. If the target lesion is within the prior radiotherapy field, the lesion must be confirmed as progressive disease.

• Adequate major organ function, meeting the following laboratory criteria (no blood transfusion within 14 days prior to screening; no hematopoietic growth factors or other corrective medications administered within 7 days prior to screening):

  • Hemoglobin (HGB) ≥ 90 g/L;
  • Absolute neutrophil count (NEUT) ≥ 1.5×10⁹/L;
  • Platelet count (PLT) ≥ 100×10⁹/L;
  • Total bilirubin (TBIL) ≤ 1.5×upper limit of normal (ULN); ≤ 2.0×ULN in subjects with liver metastasis;
  • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 2.5×ULN; ≤ 5.0×ULN in subjects with liver metastasis;
  • Creatinine clearance (CCR) ≥ 50 mL/min (calculated using the standard Cockcroft-Gault formula). For subjects not receiving platinum-containing chemotherapy, serum creatinine (Cr) ≤ 1.3×ULN is also acceptable.
  • Serum albumin ≥ 30 g/L;
  • Prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and international normalized ratio (INR) ≤ 1.5×ULN (in subjects not receiving anticoagulant therapy).
• Echocardiographic assessment: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 50%.
• Females of childbearing potential agree to use effective contraception during the study and for 6 months after study completion; serum or urine pregnancy test must be negative within 7 days prior to enrollment. Males agree to use effective contraception during the study and for 6 months after study completion (see Section 5.5 for details).

Additional criteria for Expansion Cohort 1 and Cohort 2:

• Has received at least one line of systemic therapy for recurrent/metastatic disease, including platinum-based chemotherapy and anti-programmed cell death protein 1 / programmed cell death ligand 1 (anti-PD-1/L1) therapy.

Systemic therapy administered as part of multimodal treatment for locally advanced disease (including neoadjuvant/induction, concurrent, adjuvant/consolidation therapy), with disease recurrence or progression during chemotherapy/immunotherapy or within 6 months after the last dose, shall be defined as first-line chemotherapy/immunotherapy failure.

• No prior exposure to paclitaxel and its novel formulations (e.g., albumin-bound paclitaxel) (Cohort 2 only).

Additional criteria for Expansion Cohort 3

• No prior systemic therapy for recurrent/metastatic disease. Systemic therapy as part of multimodal treatment for locally advanced disease (including induction/neoadjuvant therapy, concurrent systemic therapy with curative radiotherapy, adjuvant/consolidation therapy) is excluded, provided that the interval from completion of such therapy to disease recurrence/progression exceeds 6 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current or history of other malignant tumors. The following two conditions are allowed for enrollment:

Other malignant tumors treated with surgery alone with continuous 5-year disease-free survival (DFS); cured carcinoma in situ of cervix, non-melanoma skin cancer and superficial bladder tumors [Ta (non-invasive tumor), Tis (carcinoma in situ) and T1 (tumor invading basement membrane)].

• Diseases that interfere with subcutaneous injection or venous blood collection.
• Adverse reactions from prior treatment have not recovered to ≤Grade 1 per CTCAE Version 6.0, except Grade 2 alopecia, Grade 2 peripheral neurotoxicity (Cohort 1 only), Grade 2 anemia, non-clinically significant asymptomatic Grade 2 laboratory abnormalities, hypothyroidism stabilized by hormone replacement therapy, and other toxicities deemed to have no safety risk by the investigator.
• Major surgical treatment, significant traumatic injury within 4 weeks prior to the first dose, or planned major surgery during the study treatment period (excluding protocol-specified surgeries); or unhealed wounds or fractures for a long time.

Major surgery is defined as Grade 3 or above surgeries in the 2022 National Surgery Classification Catalogue.

• Any bleeding event ≥Grade 3 per CTCAE within 4 weeks prior to the first dose.
• Arterial/venous thromboembolic events within 6 months prior to the first dose, including cerebrovascular accidents (including transient ischemic attack, excluding lacunar cerebral infarction). Implantable venous port/catheter-related thrombosis or superficial venous thrombosis shall not be regarded as "severe" thromboembolism); deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.
• Active and poorly controlled viral hepatitis. Subjects meeting the following criteria may undergo screening:

HBsAg-positive subjects must have Hepatitis B Virus Deoxyribonucleic Acid (HBV) DNA <500 IU/mL (or 2500 copies/mL), and agree to receive anti-HBV therapy throughout the study.

HCV-infected subjects (HCV Ab or HCV RNA positive): HCV viral RNA ≤upper limit of normal, and continue approved antiviral therapy during the study.

• Active syphilis requiring treatment.
• Active pulmonary tuberculosis, history of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, organizing pneumonia, drug-induced pneumonia/radiation pneumonitis requiring treatment, active pneumonia with obvious clinical symptoms; history of interstitial lung disease (ILD) requiring previous treatment, or current interstitial lung disease.
• History of psychoactive substance abuse without abstinence, or mental disorders.
• Planned or prior allogeneic bone marrow transplantation or solid organ transplantation.
• History of hepatic encephalopathy.

• Severe cardiovascular diseases, including any of the following:

  • Cardiac insufficiency ≥New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class II, or echocardiography showing left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <50%.
  • History of clinically significant ventricular arrhythmia (e.g., sustained ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, torsades de pointes), or arrhythmia requiring continuous antiarrhythmic medication. Subjects with stable atrial fibrillation controlled by β-blockers alone may be enrolled after investigator's assessment.
  • Unstable angina pectoris.
  • Myocardial infarction within 12 months. Subjects who received interventional treatment more than 6 months ago without sequelae may be enrolled.
  • Corrected QT interval (QTc): >450 ms in males, >470 ms in females. If QTc is abnormal, three consecutive measurements at an interval >2 minutes shall be performed and the average value adopted. Correction methods include Fridericia formula or Bazett formula.
  • History or family history of congenital long QT syndrome.
• Active or uncontrolled severe infection (≥CTCAE Grade 2 infection).
• Renal failure requiring hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.
• History of immunodeficiency, including HIV positivity, or other acquired/congenital immunodeficiency diseases.
• Uncontrolled autoimmune diseases requiring immunosuppressive agents or systemic corticosteroids for immunosuppressive purposes, and still requiring such treatment within 7 days prior to the first dose.

Exclusion does not apply to subjects receiving prednisone <10 mg daily or equivalent dose of other corticosteroids.

• Epilepsy requiring treatment.
• Poorly controlled diabetes [fasting blood glucose (FBG)>10 mmol/L].

• Tumor-related conditions and prior therapies:

  • Received chemotherapy, immunotherapy, small-molecule targeted therapy within 3 weeks prior to the first dose, or still within 5 half-lives of the drug (whichever is longer). The washout period is calculated from the date of the last treatment.

Prior local radiotherapy is allowed if: radiotherapy completed >4 weeks prior to study treatment initiation (>2 weeks for brain radiotherapy); target lesion selected in this study is outside the radiotherapy field; or target lesion within radiotherapy field with confirmed progression.

• Received proprietary Chinese medicines with anti-tumor indications specified in National Medical Products Administration approved drug instructions within 1 week prior to the first dose (including Compound Mylabris Capsule, Kang'ai Injection, Kanglaite Capsule/Injection, Aidi Injection, Brucea Javanica Oil Injection/Capsule, Xiaoaiping Tablets/Injection, Huachansu Capsule, etc.).
• Imaging (CT/MRI) shows tumor invasion of major blood vessels, or the investigator judges that the tumor is highly likely to invade major blood vessels and cause fatal massive hemorrhage during subsequent study treatment.
• Uncontrolled recurrent pleural effusion, pericardial effusion or moderate to severe ascites requiring repeated drainage (as assessed by investigator).
• Known spinal cord compression, meningeal metastasis/carcinomatous meningitis, brain metastasis with symptoms, or brain metastasis with symptomatic/radiographic control duration <4 weeks; still requiring steroids or dehydrating agents within 2 weeks prior to study treatment initiation.

Subjects with newly diagnosed or progressive brain metastasis at screening shall be re-examined after at least 4 weeks to confirm stability.

• Known hypersensitivity to study drug or excipients.
• Received more than 2 lines of systemic therapy for recurrent/metastatic disease (Cohort 1 and Cohort 2).
• Prior treatment with EGFR-targeted antibodies/Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs). Exclusion does not apply to subjects who received cetuximab or nimotuzumab during curative radiotherapy for locally advanced disease, with disease recurrence/progression occurring >6 months after completion of curative radiotherapy and the last dose.
• Prior treatment with more than one immune checkpoint inhibitor, or prior Transforming Growth Factor Beta targeted therapy (Cohort 3).
• Participated in another anti-tumor clinical trial and received investigational drugs within 4 weeks prior to the first dose.
• Conditions judged by the investigator to pose serious risks to subject safety or impair completion of the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: TQB2922 Subcutaneous Injection; TQB2922 subcutaneous injection: During the first cycle, it is administered once a week, and subsequently it is administered once every three weeks, with one dose given in the morning.	Drug: TQB2922 Subcutaneous Injection; TQB2922 injection is a bispecific antibody against Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)/Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor (c-Met).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Recommended Dose for Phase II (RP2D)	Recommended Dose for Phase II (RP2D)	Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Time to maximum concentration (Tmax)	Time to maximum concentration (Tmax)	0.5 hour before dosing, 4, 10, 24, 48, 72 hours after dosing on cycle 1 day 1, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 8, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 15, (each cycle is 21 days)
Maximum concentration (Cmax)	Maximum concentration (Cmax)	0.5 hour before dosing, 4, 10, 24, 48, 72 hours after dosing on cycle 1 day 1, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 8, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 15, (each cycle is 21 days)
Area under the concentration-time curve from time 0 to time t (AUC0-t)	Area under the concentration-time curve from time 0 to time t (AUC0-t)	0.5 hour before dosing, 4, 10, 24, 48, 72 hours after dosing on cycle 1 day 1, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 8, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 15, (each cycle is 21 days)
Elimination half-life (t1/2)	Elimination half-life (t1/2)	0.5 hour before dosing, 4, 10, 24, 48, 72 hours after dosing on cycle 1 day 1, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 8, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 15, (each cycle is 21 days)
Clearance (CL)	Clearance (CL)	0.5 hour before dosing, 4, 10, 24, 48, 72 hours after dosing on cycle 1 day 1, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 8, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 15, (each cycle is 21 days)
Ctrough	Ctrough	0.5 hour before dosing, 4, 10, 24, 48, 72 hours after dosing on cycle 1 day 1, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 8, 0.5 hour before dosing on cycle 1 day 15, (each cycle is 21 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of patients with adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs)	Assessed by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0.	Baseline up to 90 days after the last dose
Overall response rate (ORR)	After enrollment of all patients, the proportion of participants with the best overall efficacy rated as complete response or partial response according to criteria (RECIST1.1).	The estimated duration was 16 months from enrollment of the first patient to 10 months after enrollment of the last patient.
Duration of response (DOR)	Patient from the date of first documentation of objective remission of the tumor to the date of first documentation of objective progression of the tumor or the date of death due to any cause.	The estimated duration was 16 months from enrollment of the first patient to 10 months after enrollment of the last patient.
Disease control rate (DCR)	Proportion of participants with complete response, partial response, and stable disease as rated by RECIST v1.1 criteria for best overall efficacy after enrollment of all patients.	The estimated duration was 16 months from enrollment of the first patient to 10 months after enrollment of the last patient.
Overall survival (OS)	The time from randomization to death due to any cause.	From randomization until patient death, it is expected to be evaluated up to 5 years.
Severity of AE/SAE	Assessed by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0.	Baseline up to 90 days after the last dose
Immunogenicity indicators: anti-drug antibodies (ADA)	Usually refers specifically to antidrug-binding antibodies.	Day 1 of cycles 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 (within 30 minutes before administration, end of treatment follow-up (EOT), 90 days after the last administration).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Shanghai Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Technology Development Co., Ltd.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 17, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 17, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 22, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 17, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Head and Neck Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: TQB2922-Ib/II-03

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No