Summary
Tarlatamab small cell lung cancer research just took a major step forward. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that adding tarlatamab to standard maintenance treatment helped patients live much longer.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) grows fast. Most patients learn they have it after it has already spread. Doctors call this extensive stage. Even with treatment, people at this stage typically live about 12 to 13 months.
Tarlatamab works in a special way. It acts like a bridge between immune T cells and a marker called DLL3 on cancer cells. As a result, the immune system can find and attack the tumor. Doctors already use it after first treatment stops working.
In the DeLLphi-305 trial, researchers asked a new question. Could tarlatamab help earlier, right after first chemoimmunotherapy? To find out, they enrolled 563 patients whose cancer had not grown after that first round. Half received tarlatamab plus durvalumab, an immunotherapy drug. The other half received durvalumab alone.
The results stood out. Patients on the combination lived a median of 21.1 months. In contrast, patients on durvalumab alone lived 12.7 months. Overall, the combination lowered the risk of death by 58%.
Similarly, the cancer stayed in check longer. The median time before the cancer grew rose from 1.9 months to 7.4 months.
Side effects did rise slightly. Serious side effects affected 46.8% of combination patients compared with 40.6% on durvalumab alone. Additionally, nearly half of combination patients had cytokine release syndrome, an immune reaction. Most cases were mild to moderate.
Still, these are early results from a planned interim analysis. Also, patients and doctors knew which treatment each person got. Amgen and AstraZeneca funded the trial.
If you or a loved one has extensive-stage SCLC, ask your oncologist whether tarlatamab small cell lung cancer treatment or a clinical trial fits your care.
