Summary
Tarlatamab extends survival and reduces side effects for small cell lung cancer patients, emerging as a promising new second-line treatment option.
Exciting news from the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting brings hope to people living with small cell lung cancer. A new drug called tarlatamab is showing remarkable results and could become the new standard treatment for patients whose cancer has returned after initial chemotherapy.
The DeLLphi-304 trial tested tarlatamab against traditional chemotherapy in 509 patients whose small cell lung cancer had come back after first-line treatment. The results were impressive: patients taking tarlatamab lived an average of 13.6 months compared to 8.3 months for those on chemotherapy. After one year, 53% of tarlatamab patients were still alive versus 37% on chemotherapy.
Beyond helping patients live longer, tarlatamab was easier on the body. Only 27% of patients experienced severe side effects compared to 62% with chemotherapy. Patients also reported breathing easier and coughing less—important improvements for people with lung cancer.
While tarlatamab can cause cytokine-release syndrome (the body’s strong immune response), most cases were mild and happened mainly during the first two treatments. Doctors found they could safely monitor patients for just 6-8 hours instead of keeping them in the hospital for two days.
Dr. Charles Rudin from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center called these results practice-changing. This treatment works by helping the body’s own immune cells find and attack cancer cells—a newer approach that’s opening doors for lung cancer care.
Researchers are now studying tarlatamab as a first-line treatment, bringing even more hope for the future of small cell lung cancer treatment.
