Solid Tumor vs Hematologic Cancer Care - Cross-Specialty Lessons in Toxicity Management

Closing the discussion, Dr. Kalantri asked whether the same community-access progress happening in hematologic malignancies is taking hold in solid tumors. Dr. Luo answered by describing how much her field has borrowed directly from hematology-oncology's playbook. Tarlatamab's arrival in small cell lung cancer forced thoracic oncologists to learn to recognize and manage cytokine release syndrome and ICANS — toxicities that were previously unfamiliar territory outside malignant hematology.

She credited early success at her institution to co-managing tarlatamab patients with the cellular therapy service, and to algorithms developed by colleague Dr. Jacob Sands for catching these side effects early, particularly during a patient's first two doses, when the risk of escalation is highest. She described a clear trajectory: what began as a small group of specialists learning the toxicity profile firsthand has since spread through outreach to multiple hospitals across the Northeast now comfortable initiating tarlatamab independently.

Dr. Luo framed this cross-specialty knowledge transfer as essential groundwork for what's coming next — more cellular therapy trials and bispecific T-cell engagers moving into solid tumors, all carrying similar toxicity profiles that solid tumor oncologists will need to manage with the same rigor hematologists already have.

Dr. Kalantri closed by thanking both panelists, summarizing the episode's arc from evaluating new modalities' evidence to communicating their risks and benefits to patients and colleagues, and reinforcing that collaboration across specialties is what ultimately gets these therapies safely into wider practice.