Tarlatamab Provides Clinicians With New Immunologic Option in SCLC
The FDA approval of tarlatamab in SCLC has received much press attention, according to Daniel R. Carrizosa, MD, MS.
In a conversation with CancerNetwork®, Daniel R. Carrizosa, MD, MS, discussed a presentation he gave at the 2025 National Immune Cell Effector Therapy Conference regarding the use of bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs) in small cell lung cancer (SCLC).1 His session focused on tarlatamab-dlle (Imdelltra), which was approved for patients with extensive-stage SCLC in May 2024.2
Carrizosa, an associate professor of cancer medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, associate program director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at Levine Cancer Institute/Carolinas Medical Center, and senior assistant director of community outreach and engagement at Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, initially highlighted his presentation of the BiTE in SCLC. He suggested that although SCLC was the second disease state where this type of treatment was accepted for FDA approval, it has generated the most press reception. In particular, his presentation encompassed how tarlatamab would fit into practice for this patient population.
Carrizosa concluded by highlighting the pharmacodynamics of the agent, which facilitates a binding between T cells and cancer cells to immunologically combat SCLC.
Transcript:
[In the presentation], I spoke about the new use of bispecific T-cell engagers, specifically in small cell lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer is technically the second cancer where a BiTE was approved by the FDA, but it is the one that has received the most press in the last several years. This panel and discussion were about this bispecific T-cell engager known as tarlatamab, how it fits into the current armamentarium against small cell lung cancer, and how it’s first in its class.
We have not seen this type of medicine [before] in lung cancer or in small cell lung cancer, and [it] provides a new type of weapon in our fight against [the disease]. This helps create a binding between the cancer cell and T cells, therefore engaging the T cells and allowing [them] to specifically either kill the cancer or recruit more T cells to [immunologically fight] against small cell lung cancer.
References
- Carrizosa DR. Developments of T-cell engager therapies in lung cancer: taking a BiTE out of small cell: precision DLL3 therapies. Presented at: 2025 National Immune Cell Effector Therapy Conference; July 26, 2025; Orlando, FL.
- FDA grants accelerated approval to tarlatamab-dlle for extensive stage small cell lung cancer. FDA. May 16, 2024. Accessed July 30, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/48k34rw5
