Lung cancer treatment in 2026 is experiencing a significant shift in personalized care

New Lung Cancer Treatments in 2026: How CheckMate 816 And DeLLphi-304 Are Changing Survival Rates

Lung cancer treatment in 2026 is experiencing a significant shift in personalized care. Survival rates have increased by 26% over the last 5 years, reaching 29.7%. “About every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with lung cancer, and every day, lung cancer takes the lives of close to 361 of our friends, neighbors, and loved ones.” Research and clinical trials are making an important impact on these statistics.

Two milestone Phase 3 trials have been published in The New England Journal Of Medicine and have changed the treatment journey for lung cancer. 

• CheckMate 816 (NCT02998528): This trial showed a significant overall survival benefit of neoadjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo). This is an immunotherapy drug given in combination with chemotherapy before surgery.

• DeLLphi-304 (NCT05740566): This trial demonstrated that tarlatamab (Imdelltra) significantly improves survival and reduces the risk of death by 40%. This medication also has fewer serious side effects.

These trials are “establishing a new standard of care in a disease that has resisted meaningful therapeutic progress for decades.”

CheckMate 816

In this Phase 3 trial, patients with stage IB and IIIA resectable non-small cell lung cancer were given either three cycles of neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy or just chemotherapy alone. 

• At a 5 year followup, the nivolumab-chemotherapy combination showed an overall survival rate of 65%, compared to 55% of patients who received chemotherapy alone.

• The addition of nivolumab tripled the pathological complete response (pCR) to 24% versus 5% for chemotherapy alone. Patients who achieved pCR had a 5-year survival rate of 95%.

• The drug combination demonstrated a 5-year event-free survival (EFS) rate of 49% compared to 34% for chemotherapy alone.

• The addition of nivolumab did not increase side effects or adverse events.

“Positive results marked the first time an immune checkpoint inhibitor-based combination has demonstrated superior efficacy versus chemotherapy…CheckMate-816 is the first and only Phase 3 trial to demonstrate a benefit as a neoadjuvant treatment for non-metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.”

DeLLphi-304

This randomized, open-label trial (involving 509 patients) demonstrated tarlatamab as a new and superior second-line standard of care with fewer serious adverse events. This medication opens a new chapter for patients living with small-cell lung cancer.

• Median overall survival (OS) was 13.6 months with tarlatamab versus 8.3 months with chemotherapy (topotecan, lurbinectedin, or amrubicin).

• Tarlatamab showed a median progression-free survival of 4.2 months compared to 3.2-3.7 months with chemotherapy.

• Data from this trial led the FDA to grant full approval to Imdelltra (tarlatamab-dlle) in November 2025.

• This is an immunotherapy used to treat adults with advanced small-cell lung cancer. It is not chemotherapy; it's a specialized antibody that brings T cells directly to the cancer cells.

• This medication is a targeted bispecific T cell engager molecule that improves patients' outcomes, especially a reduced cough and dyspnea (shortness of breath).

“DeLLphi-304 trial showed tarlatamab significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and patient-reported outcomes, with a favorable safety and tolerability profile compared to chemotherapy in patients with small cell lung cancer that progressed after initial chemotherapy, defining a new standard of care for these patients.” 

The Bottom Line

Both CheckMate 816 and DeLLphi-304 represent landmark, practice-changing Phase 3 trials that significantly improve survival outcomes in lung cancer. These medications have “redrawn the treatment map for lung cancer. One for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (CheckMate 816) and one for relapsed small cell lung cancer (DeLLphi-304). Both answered survival questions that the field has been pursuing for years. Both produced results that are immediately practice-changing.”