Small Cell Lung Cancer Takes Center Stage at ASCO 2025
Key Points
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Key clinical trials featured at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting offer novel therapy options for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
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Lurbinectedin showed significant survival benefit in the maintenance setting for patients with extensive-stage SCLC.
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Patients receiving tarlatamab in a second-line setting showed significant improvement in overall survival.
At the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, Sandip Patel, MD, FASCO, of UC San Diego Health, and Eric Singhi, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, highlighted novel agents that are being evaluated in SCLC.
The IMforte trial, for the first time, showed that lurbinectedin combined with atezolizumab in the maintenance setting can extend survival in previously treated patients with extensive-stage SCLC.
Similarly, tarlatamab, a bispecific T-cell engager, demonstrated significant improvement in overall survival for patients with SCLC who received it in the second-line setting. The phase 3 DeLLphi-304 trial was also presented at ASCO.
“These are drugs that we have familiarity with, and kind of like good Legos, we find a better way to combine them. This way we can really make sure patients get their best therapeutics early on,” Dr. Patel said. Giving the therapies to patients earlier in their disease course reduces the likelihood that they’ll experience severe adverse effects, he added.