Tarlatamab added to first-line maintenance in ES-SCLC improves overall survival

Patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) often have limited opportunity to receive second-line treatment if their disease progresses rapidly. In the phase III DeLLphi-305 trial, 563 patients whose cancer had not progressed after platinum–etoposide chemotherapy plus durvalumab were randomized 1:1 to maintenance durvalumab with or without tarlatamab. Overall survival, measured from randomization at the start of maintenance, was the primary endpoint.

The Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology article says the addition of tarlatamab, a DLL3 × CD3 bispecific T-cell engager, produced a substantial overall-survival benefit. It notes that trial findings were presented at the ESMO Congress 2026 and published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine. The available text does not report survival estimates, hazard ratios, confidence intervals, or adverse-event data, so the magnitude and safety profile cannot be assessed from this report. These results concern maintenance after the specified induction regimen; the source does not provide enough detail to determine how they should affect treatment decisions.