Oncologists Highlight Tarlatamab and Other Advancements in SCLC
Key Points
- The treatment landscape for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has seen rapid growth with the recent additions of immunotherapy combinations, lurbinectedin, and tarlatamab.
- While trials continue to explore novel agents, new studies are needed to identify mechanisms of resistance, find relevant biomarkers, and determine optimal sequencing.
While the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting was underway, Christine Garcia, MD, MPH, of Weill Cornell Medicine, and Rami Manochakian, MD, FASCO, of Mayo Clinic, met to discuss recent updates in extensive-stage SCLC and where the field is headed.
Dr. Manochakian highlighted that, after decades of platinum–based chemotherapy as the primary treatment, new strategies are emerging for SCLC including immunotherapy combinations, maintenance or second-line therapy with lurbinectedin, and, crucially, the development of tarlatamab. Tarlatamab was approved as a second-line therapy after it improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy, and trials such as DeLLphi-305 are now exploring it as part of first-line induction or maintenance therapy.
The doctors also considered areas of unmet need for extensive-stage SCLC. As tarlatamab, lurbinectedin, and other novel agents enter the treatment landscape, thoracic oncologists need to identify both mechanisms of treatment resistance and relevant biomarkers to guide treatment decisions, said Dr. Manochakian. In addition, as novel treatments emerge and patients live longer, more trials are needed to determine optimal sequencing.