Dr Florez Highlights Real-Time Polling Results on Treatment Preferences in SCLC

“T-cell engagers in the small cell lung cancer [space] are potentially some of the new drugs that will be developed.”

Narjust Florez, MD, the associate medical director of the Cancer Care Access Program and a thoracic medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, a member of faculty at Harvard Medical School, and co-chair of the 2025 Bridging the Gaps in Lung Cancer meeting, discussed current treatment preferences and future therapeutic directions in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), breaking down real-time polling conducted during a live-streamed session at the conference.

During the session, audience polling revealed that tarlatamab-dlle (Imdelltra), a DLL3-targeted bispecific T-cell engager, was correctly identified as the preferred second-line therapy for patients with relapsed SCLC, with 69% of respondents on X and 68% on LinkedIn selecting it over other available options. In May 2024, the FDA granted accelerated approval to tarlatamab for the treatment of patients with extensive-stage SCLC with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. This was supported by findings from the phase 2 DeLLphi-301 trial (NCT05060016). Additionally, during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, findings presented from the phase 3 DeLLphi-304 trial (NCT05740566) showed that second-line tarlatamab generated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival compared with chemotherapy in patients with SCLC.

According to Florez, data for tarlatamab reflect a shift in treatment standards, as the agent has emerged as a preferred second-line option, replacing prior approaches such as platinum rechallenge.

Polling also addressed the future therapeutic landscape of SCLC. The majority of participants identified T-cell engagers, such as tarlatamab and other agents in development, as the most promising class for improving survival outcomes, followed by antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Florez agreed with this prioritization and emphasized the potential for T-cell–redirecting therapies to alter the treatment paradigm in SCLC.

Future research efforts, she added, will focus on evaluating T-cell engagers in earlier lines of therapy, refining biomarker-driven patient selection strategies, and optimizing the management of immune-related toxicities. These investigations will be critical in advancing treatment personalization and improving outcomes for patients with SCLC, she said.