On July 2, 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the accelerated approval of sunvozertinib (Zegfrovy®) to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations (exon20ins). These mutations are found in approximately 2% of patients with NSCLC.  

Sunvozertinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that targets EGFR exon20ins in patients whose tumors have started to grow again after chemotherapy.

When a person is treated for advanced-stage lung cancer, tumors will often shrink, and their symptoms may subside. An effective treatment will kill many tumor cells, but there are usually some cells (called drug-tolerant persister cells, or DTPCs) left behind. If these cancer cells survive treatment, they will eventually begin to grow again.

Researchers have been making progress in understanding how DTPCs grow and, importantly, how that growth can be stopped. As we learn more about these cells, we get closer to eliminating lung cancer relapse and saving lives.

On June 23, 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of datopotamab deruxtecan-dlnk (Datroway® or Dato-DXd) to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with mutations in the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) gene. This approval is for patients who have been previously treated with an EGFR-directed therapy and chemotherapy.  

This ADC, or antibody-drug conjugate, is designed with two key elements.  

Michelle knew what was wrong. She knew the headaches, regular vomiting, ear popping, and “whooshing” sounds in her head were all signs of leptomeningeal disease (LMD). The issue, however, is that LMD is so rare—only diagnosed in 5% of people with cancer—she had to advocate for the testing to prove it.

“I called my clinic and said I needed a brain MRI because I think I have LMD. They didn’t want to schedule one, so I said, tell my doctor I’m demanding a brain MRI. I can tell him directly if I need to,” says Michelle.

Historically, approaches to treating lung cancer included surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. The past decade ushered in a new era of treatments with targeted therapy and immunotherapy.

What Is Integrative Oncology? 

Integrative oncology is the use of complementary therapies alongside conventional lung cancer treatments like chemotherapy, targ

Surgery is a treatment option for early-stage lung cancer that involves removing all or part of a lung to treat a cancerous tumor. It is primarily an option for people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) staged at I, II, or IIIA. Surgery is rarely considered for tumors at stage IIIB or IV because those lung cancers have spread to other parts of the body.

Roughly 20% of lung cancer is diagnosed as early-stage disease, and researchers have been working to improve treatment options for these patients—with significant success.  

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Here we present the final video in our three-part series about how patients and researchers can work together to develop clinical trials.  

Read time: 2 minutes.  

We are pleased to continue our three-part series about how patients and researchers can work together to develop clinical trials.