Tartalamab as a Second-Line Therapy for Small-Cell Lung Cancer
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Reviewed by Dat Tien Nguyen, B.A, ScM.
Translated by Nhi Phuong Quynh Le, B.A |
Posted on August 15th, 2025
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Small-cell lung cancer is one of the most severe with only 5% of the patients surviving past 5 years. Platinum-based chemotherapy and PD-L1 inhibitors are the first-line therapy for the condition; however, these therapies do not significantly increase survivability. Existing second-line therapies are equally ineffective with intolerable hematological side effects. With funding from Amgen, a study was conducted to assess the usage of tarlatamab to treat small-cell lung cancer.
The phase 3 clinical trial included 509 participants with a median age of 65 years old who had been diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer that had continued to progress after initial platinum-based chemotherapy. 71% of the participants were also treated with an PD-L1 inhibitor. The participants were randomly assigned to be treated with either tarlatamab or the standard chemotherapy of the country where the trial was conducted. Participants in Japan were treated with the combination of topotecan and amrubicin. In other trial sites, lurbinectedin was used as the second-line therapy. Tarlatamab was given intravenously at a starting dose of 1 mg every 7 days, which is increased to 10 mg every 2 weeks. This experimental agent is a bispecific T-cell engager that binds to the CD3 on T-cells and brings them to the vicinity of DLL3-expressing tumor cells for neutralization.
The researchers found that tartalumab significantly increased survival duration and reduced the risk of death by 40%. Additionally, more of the patients treated with tartalumab experienced tumor shrinkage. However, patients treated with the bispecific T-cell engager reported a higher frequency of cytokine release syndrome, dysgeusia, and pyrexia. But overall, adverse effects experienced by those treated with tartalumab has a lower severity.
The phase 3 clinical trial included 509 participants with a median age of 65 years old who had been diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer that had continued to progress after initial platinum-based chemotherapy. 71% of the participants were also treated with an PD-L1 inhibitor. The participants were randomly assigned to be treated with either tarlatamab or the standard chemotherapy of the country where the trial was conducted. Participants in Japan were treated with the combination of topotecan and amrubicin. In other trial sites, lurbinectedin was used as the second-line therapy. Tarlatamab was given intravenously at a starting dose of 1 mg every 7 days, which is increased to 10 mg every 2 weeks. This experimental agent is a bispecific T-cell engager that binds to the CD3 on T-cells and brings them to the vicinity of DLL3-expressing tumor cells for neutralization.
The researchers found that tartalumab significantly increased survival duration and reduced the risk of death by 40%. Additionally, more of the patients treated with tartalumab experienced tumor shrinkage. However, patients treated with the bispecific T-cell engager reported a higher frequency of cytokine release syndrome, dysgeusia, and pyrexia. But overall, adverse effects experienced by those treated with tartalumab has a lower severity.