Clinical trials can open the door to promising new small cell lung cancer treatments. Dr. Erin Schenk, a lung cancer researcher, explains why patients may want to consider clinical trials early, even at diagnosis. Dr. Schenk also shares key questions to ask about trial participation, from potential benefits to the necessity of hospital stays, side effects, and follow-up care.
Dr. Erin Schenk is a medical oncologist, lung cancer researcher, and associate professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. Learn more about Dr. Schenk.
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Transcript
Katherine Banwell:
Dr. Schenk, when should patients consider a clinical trial?
Dr. Erin Schenk:
Right now, the opportunities for patients with small cell lung cancer and participating in a clinical trial are very – there are quite a few opportunities. And, in my opinion, those opportunities are very compelling. Or, often, I get the question put to me this way. “Doc, if I were your mom, dad, brother, or if this was you, what would you do?”
And I think there are a number of clinical trial opportunities that would be worth exploring, even in patients newly diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. I think if you or a loved one are in that situation with this new diagnosis, it’s worth asking your physician and your treatment team what clinical trials are available at the facility you’re getting treated, or maybe some of their colleagues who might be at a different institution closer by. There are a number of medicines that are being developed for small cell lung cancer, I think have a very promising opportunity to be part of our usual care. So, these are medicines that, again, if I were in the shoes of a patient, that I would want to try to explore access to or see if I could receive earlier on in my therapy.
Katherine Banwell:
Dr. Schenk, what questions should patients be asking about participating in a trial?
Dr. Erin Schenk:
It’s really important to talk about the clinical trial logistics. So, for example, medicines like tarlatamab-dlle (Imdelltra), these are IV medicines. And, often – though we’re working on it – often these need to be first administered in the hospital. There’s a side effect profile with tarlatamab, where it’s best to be monitored in the hospital in case some of these changes can happen.
And so, for example, what that would be would be fever or low blood pressure or shortness of breath. That shows that the tarlatamab medicine is really activating a patient’s immune system. And by being able to recognize it right away and intervening with fluids and medicines, we’re able to ensure that it does not get very severe. And it reduces the chances of a patient getting very sick because of that side effect.
So, tarlatamab, as well as other medicines similar to tarlatamab, often require a patient to stay in the hospital for a day or two for the first couple of doses. So, that’s a big logistical challenge for patients and families. So, “What’s required of me? Am I going to be in the hospital? Is this a medicine you can give to me in the clinic? What follow-up visits do I need to visit with my team to ensure I’m feeling well, to ensure there aren’t any new or unexpected side effects?” So, there’s still a lot of data collection, us trying to understand the medicine and how it affects the patients, when they’re in clinical trials.