Background
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death, and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) represents approximately 15% of all cases [
1]. Despite remarkable progress in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer in the last decade [
2], patients with SCLC continue to have a poor prognosis and limited treatment options [
3]. Recently, the addition of the anti-PD-L1 antibody atezolizumab (TECENTRIQ®) to carboplatin and etoposide chemotherapy demonstrated an improvement in overall survival (OS) in the first-line setting (median OS of 12.3 months versus 10.3 months for chemotherapy alone [95% confidence interval, 0.54–0.91;
P = 0.007]), leading to the approval of this regimen by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for first-line treatment of extensive-stage SCLC [
4,
5]. Although the approval of atezolizumab for first-line treatment marks an important step forward in the treatment of SCLC, the limited 2-month benefit highlights the need for development of additional therapies.
Treatment of SCLC beyond the first line is still associated with low response rates despite decades of clinical trials [
6‐
9]. The anti-PD-1 antibody nivolumab was recently granted accelerated approval by the FDA for the treatment of patients with SCLC with progression after at least two lines of chemotherapy, including one that contains platinum [
10]. This approval was based on the results of the CheckMate-032 study (NCT01928394), an open-label study of nivolumab or nivolumab plus ipilimumab in SCLC [
11]. However, a recent report indicates that nivolumab failed to improve OS compared to topotecan or amrubicin in a second-line SCLC patient population (CheckMate-331, NCT02481830) [
12]. A randomized, multicenter, double-blind, phase 3 study of nivolumab, nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab, or placebo as maintenance therapy in patients with extensive-stage disease SCLC after completion of platinum-based first-line chemotherapy (CheckMate-451, NCT02538666) also failed to meet its primary endpoint of OS [
13]. National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines® recommend treatment with the original platinum-based doublet for recurrent disease that occurs greater than 6 months from treatment, while enrollment into a clinical trial is preferred for patients with recurrence less than 6 months from initial treatment given the limited clinical benefit observed with topotecan as well as the other agents studied in this setting [
7,
14‐
16]. Therefore, identifying new treatment pathways for patients, especially in the second-line setting and beyond, is an area of dire clinical need.
The Notch pathway is a highly conserved cell-cell signaling pathway involved in a variety of development processes, including the development of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells [
17,
18]. Delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) is an inhibitory Notch pathway ligand that is highly upregulated and aberrantly expressed on the cell surface in SCLC and other high-grade neuroendocrine tumors [
19,
20]. Notch signaling is downregulated during neuroendocrine tumor growth and is inhibited by DLL3 expression [
20‐
22]. DLL3 expression is regulated by achaete-scute homolog 1 (ASCL1), a transcription factor that is required for proper development of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells and is an oncogenic driver in SCLC [
23,
24]. In preclinical models, DLL3 expression promotes SCLC migration and invasion through a mechanism that involves control of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition protein Snail [
25].
DLL3 is specifically expressed on the surface of SCLC tumor cells. DLL3 surface expression correlated with time to tumor progression in 10 SCLC and 1 large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) patient-derived xenograft models [
20]. In a study of 63 patients with SCLC, 52 (83%) patient tumor samples were found to be positive for DLL3 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and 20 (32%) showed high expression of DLL3 (positive in at least 50% of cancer cells) [
26]. Overall, greater than 80% of SCLC tumors express DLL3 mRNA and protein, and cytoplasmic and membranous staining of DLL3 was observed by IHC with a high level of homogeneity across neoplastic cells. In contrast, only a few normal cell types expressed DLL3 (e.g., neurons, pancreatic islet cells, and pituitary cells), and expression of DLL3 was exclusively cytoplasmic [
27‐
29]. Recent studies have reported that DLL3 is also expressed in other tumor types of neuroendocrine origin, including melanoma, glioblastoma multiforme, small cell bladder cancer, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and neuroendocrine lung tumors [
30‐
34].
The DLL3 expression profile—high, homogeneous cell surface expression in tumors, versus low, cytoplasmic expression in a subset of normal tissues—has enabled the development of therapeutics that use DLL3 to specifically target SCLC cells [
20,
35]. These DLL3-specific agents are now being evaluated in several ongoing clinical studies in SCLC and other neuroendocrine tumors. In this review, we focus on the preclinical and clinical data supporting the development of novel therapies that target DLL3 in SCLC: the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) rovalpituzumab tesirine, the bispecific T cell engager (BiTE®) immuno-oncology therapy AMG 757, and the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy AMG 119 (Table
1, Table
2).
Table 1
Select ongoing clinical trials of DLL3-targeted agents in SCLC
Rovalpituzumab tesirine, cisplatin, etoposide | First line | Safety and PFS | 1 | 28 | NCT02819999 |
Rovalpituzumab tesirine, nivolumab, ipilimumab | Second line | Safety | 1/2 | 42 | NCT03026166 |
Rovalpituzumab tesirine versus topotecan | Second line | OS | 3 | 444 | NCT03061812 |
Rovalpituzumab tesirine, dexamethasone | Maintenance | PFS, OS | 3 | 740 | NCT03033511 |
AMG 757 | Second line | Safety, tolerability, and PK | 1 | 92 | NCT03319940 |
AMG 119 | Second line | Safety and tolerability | 1 | 41 | NCT03392064 |
Table 2
Clinical trials of DLL3-targeted therapies in SCLC that have been completed
Rovalpituzumab tesirine | SCLC, LCNEC | Safety | 1/2 | 82 (74 SCLC) | NCT01901653 | ORR, 18% (11/60) | |
Rovalpituzumab tesirine | SCLC, 3rd line, and beyond | ORR, OS | 2 | 339 | NCT02674568 | ORR, 12.4% (9.1, 16.4); median OS, 5.6 months (4.9, 6.1) | |
Conclusion
SCLC is a devastating disease with a poor prognosis. Few therapeutic advances have been made over the last several decades, but recently, first-line treatment with atezolizumab in addition to chemotherapy demonstrated an improvement in OS [
4,
5]. While addition of an anti-PD-L1 antibody to first-line treatment may benefit many patients, it may limit the development and use of anti-PD-1(L1) agents in second or later lines. The approval of atezolizumab and subsequent changes to the standard of care may also result in challenges to the conduct and interpretation of ongoing clinical trials in the first-line and the maintenance settings. Treatment options for patients in the second line and beyond remain limited, highlighting the need for development of additional therapies.
Rovalpituzumab tesirine, a DLL3-targeted ADC, has shown early signs of efficacy, even in patients in the third- and fourth-line settings. However, the unique toxicity profile of rovalpituzumab tesirine, which appears to be related to the DNA cross-linking agent PBD [
36], might limit its clinical utility. DLL3 nonetheless remains a promising target. DLL3 is highly expressed in SCLC and other neuroendocrine tumors, and it has low to no expression in most normal tissues. Targeting DLL3 through T cell-redirecting therapies may be an alternative way of treating DLL3-positive tumors. Ongoing studies with rovalpituzumab tesirine and with immuno-oncology therapies such as AMG 757 and AMG 119 are expected to provide us with a better understanding of the potential of this novel target and perhaps finally provide patients with more effective treatment options for this very aggressive disease.
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