A Phase 3 clinical trial tested sunvozertinib (Zegfrovy), a once-daily oral drug, against standard chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations.
The results showed that sunvozertinib worked better than chemotherapy. Patients taking the drug lived longer without their cancer getting worse (about 10.3 months vs. 7.5 months). More patients responded to treatment as well, with tumor shrinkage in about 59% of cases compared to 31% with chemotherapy. The benefits also lasted longer, and disease control was higher overall.
The drug appeared to work especially well in certain groups, including some Asian patients and those without brain metastases. Many patients who first received chemotherapy later switched to sunvozertinib after their disease progressed.
Side effects were common but mostly manageable. The most frequent issues included diarrhea, skin rash, and nail inflammation. Some patients needed dose adjustments, but few had to stop treatment completely, and no treatment-related deaths occurred.