FDA Approves Drug for Persistent, Deadly Form of Lung Cancer

The treatment is for patients with small cell lung cancer, which affects about 35,000 people each year in the United States.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved an innovative new treatment for patients with a form of lung cancer. It should be used only by patients who have exhausted all other options for treating small cell lung cancer and who have a life expectancy of four to five months.

The drug tarlatamab, or Imdelltra, made by the company Amgen, tripled the life expectancy of patients, giving them a median survival of 14 months after taking the drug. Forty percent of those who received the drug responded.

After decades without real progress in treatments for small cell lung cancer, tarlatamab offers the first real hope, said Dr. Anish. Thomas, a lung cancer specialist at the Federal National Cancer Institute who did not participate in the trial.

"I feel like it's a light after a long time,” he added.

Dr. Timothy Burns, a lung cancer specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, said the drug "is going to be a practice changer." an investigator in the study but served on an Amgen advisory board for another drug.)

This medication, however, has one side effect that may be serious: cytokine release syndrome. It is an overreaction of the immune system that can lead to symptoms such as a rash, rapid heartbeat, and low blood pressure.

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