Ticiana A. Leal, MD

Panelists discuss how preliminary neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy data showing high response rates and pathologic complete responses in limited-stage SCLC appears promising but requires larger studies and careful patient selection given the complexity of staging and surgical candidacy.

Panelists discuss how while emerging biomarkers like inflamed subtypes and MHC class I expression show promise for predicting immunotherapy benefit, current clinical practice treats all patients with immunotherapy since the potential for exceptional responses cannot be reliably predicted.

Experts discuss the slow but growing real-world adoption of combination therapy for EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) despite strong FLAURA2 survival data, citing factors such as clinical inertia, comfort with monotherapy, and regional practice variations, while anticipating broader uptake as confidence, education, and infrastructure catch up with the evolving standard of care.

Experts discuss the gap between current clinical guidelines and emerging trial data in EGFR-mutant lung cancer, highlighting calls to elevate combination therapies in treatment recommendations following robust survival benefits, while underscoring the continued importance of individualized care and patient-centered flexibility in frontline decision-making.

Panelists discuss how the concerning underutilization of first-line chemoimmunotherapy in extensive-stage SCLC may stem from clinical nihilism, lack of urgency in treatment initiation, and inadequate education about the substantial benefits these therapies provide to patients.

Panelists discuss how pneumonitis risk management requires intensive patient education about symptoms, close monitoring for several months post radiation, and multidisciplinary coordination with pulmonology and radiation oncology teams to distinguish between radiation-induced and immunotherapy-related pneumonitis.

Experts discuss the evolving role of combination therapy in frontline treatment for EGFR-mutated metastatic lung cancer, emphasizing that while survival data from FLAURA2 support broader use beyond traditionally defined high-risk groups, real-world factors and patient preferences continue to necessitate individualized, shared decision-making.

Experts discuss emerging consensus around the value of combination therapy in EGFR-mutated metastatic NSCLC, highlighting practice-changing overall survival data from FLAURA2 and emphasizing how intensified upfront treatment may now redefine the standard of care despite added complexity and toxicity.

Panelists discuss how patient selection for durvalumab consolidation requires careful consideration of autoimmune diseases, baseline lung function, and neurologic paraneoplastic syndromes, while emphasizing that most patients should receive immunotherapy unless they have severely active contraindications.

Panelists discuss how durvalumab consolidation after chemoradiation has become the standard of care for limited-stage SCLC based on the ADRIATIC trial, with most patients being considered candidates for the 2-year treatment course.

Leal and Nagasaka discussed the significance of the FDA approval of zongertinib for previously treated patients with HER2 TKD–mutant advanced NSCLC.

Panelists discuss how emerging targeted and biomarker-directed therapies are poised to transform the treatment landscape for both limited-stage and extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, highlighting the potential for improved patient outcomes through personalized approaches.

Panelists discuss how preliminary results from the pPhase 3 ARTEMIS-001 study indicate that iIfinatamab dDeruxtecan, a B7-H3 antibody-drug conjugate, demonstrates promising antitumor activity in relapsed small cell lung cancer, with a notable partial response rate and manageable safety profile among treated patients.

Panelists discuss how the overexpression of B7-H3 plays a crucial prognostic role in small cell lung cancer, exploring the mechanisms by which ifinatamab deruxtecan targets this protein to overcome treatment resistance and enhance tumor selectivity, while also considering the potential for durable responses and the use of patient-derived xenograft models to advance drug development and assess B7-H3 expression.

Panelists discuss how the treatment schedule of ifinatamab deruxtecan at 12 mg/kg intravenouslyIV Q3W once every 3 weeks may compare favorably to established regimens like amrubicin, topotecan, and lurbinectedin for relapsed small cell lung cancer, while also exploring potential dose adjustments, immunogenicity concerns, and the synergistic effects when combined with atezolizumab and carboplatin.

Panelists discuss how tarlatamab could serve as a promising combination therapy for previously treated small cell lung cancer, highlighting its potential clinical benefits when paired with durvalumab as maintenance therapy after standard regimens, and emphasizing the importance of statistically significant trial end points to encourage its adoption in community oncology practices.

Panelists discuss how the risks and clinical benefits of tarlatamab in relapsed or refractory extensive-stage small cell lung cancer must be carefully evaluated, considering the implications of bBlack bBox warnings for cytokine release syndrome and immune effector cell–-associated neurotoxicity syndrome, as well as the challenges of managing outpatient therapy for patients distant from treatment facilities, while also exploring the potential for reduced monitoring time between infusions given the safety profile observed in clinical studies.

Panelists discuss how the DeLLphi-301 clinical trial demonstrates an objective response rate of 32% to 40% with tarlatamab, which is clinically meaningful given the rapid onset of responses observed between 5 and 7 weeks, while also considering the implications of a median overall survival of 14 months and the duration of response exceeding 6six months for relapsed or refractory extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

Panelists discuss how the definition of platinum sensitivity in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer may still rely on the 90-day criterion, while also exploring other factors contributing to treatment resistance, alongside an examination of tarlatamab’'s unique mechanism as a bispecific T-cell engager and its potential as a subsequent therapy after platinum-based chemotherapy.

Panelists discuss how the timing of consolidation therapy with a PD-L1 inhibitor after completion of chemoradiotherapy in limited-stage SCLC small cell lung cancer can vary from immediately to 6six weeks, while also exploring the potential for curative-intent immunotherapy with durvalumab, the role of SBRT cCRT concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by durvalumab, and insights from the ADRIATIC clinical trial regarding the use of PCI in this patient population.

Panelists discuss how the interim results from the phase 3 ADRIATIC trial demonstrate significant overall survival and progression-free survival benefits for patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer following concurrent chemoradiotherapy, highlighting the potential clinical relevance of durvalumab in improving life expectancy and its mechanisms of synergy within the tumor microenvironment.

Panelists discuss how the surgical approach to limited-stage small cell lung cancer varies, including the percentage of cases amenable to resection, the preference for lobectomy in stage I-IIA disease, and the role of mediastinal lymph node staging in shaping treatment strategies, alongside considerations for choosing between surgery and radiotherapy, the selection of systemic treatments, and the integration of prophylactic cranial irradiation in treatment plans.

Panelists discuss how the current landscape of first-line treatment for limited-stage small cell lung cancer is shaped by various clinical factors that influence the diagnostic workup and management, emphasizing the importance of a multidisciplinary team approach in developing effective treatment plans for these patients.

In a forward-looking discussion, Ticiana Leal, MD; Anne Chiang, MD, PhD; Afshin Dowlati, MD; and Tarita O. Thomas, MD, PhD, offer their concluding insights on the evolving landscape of clinical trials and the future directions of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) treatment, highlighting promising areas of research and potential breakthroughs that may shape the management of this challenging disease in the years to come.

Experts delve into the DAREON-8 Phase 1 clinical trial, assessing the potential impact of incorporating the study into the current treatment algorithm for small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Medical experts review the Ideate-Lung02 phase 3 clinical trial, exploring the potential for ifinatamab to elicit durable responses in patients with advanced small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and discussing the implications of these findings for the future treatment landscape of SCLC.

In a detailed analysis, key opinion leaders (KOLs) review the results of the DELLphi-301 Phase 2 clinical trial, assessing the efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy in the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and its impact on overall survival outcomes for patients enrolled in the study.

In a focused discussion, Anne Chiang, MD, PhD, explores the sequencing of later-line therapies for limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC), emphasizing key factors to consider when making treatment decisions for patients who have progressed on initial therapy.

Key opinion leaders investigate the potential impact of redefining small cell lung cancer (SCLC) as a molecularly heterogeneous malignancy on personalized treatment strategies for SCLC subtypes with distinct therapeutic vulnerabilities, while exploring the emerging role of blood-based biomarkers in shaping the evolving treatment landscape for SCLC.

Key opinion leaders examine the PD-L1 expression and tissue tumor mutational burden (TMB) data from the CASPIAN trial, which evaluated the combination of durvalumab with platinum-etoposide for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), weighing the potential predictive value of PD-L1 and tissue TMB in assessing progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) outcomes.