The FDA’s Project Optimus targets cancer drug dosages and toxicity

When doctors began using the drug sotorasib in 2021 with high expectations for its innovative approach to attacking lung cancer, retired medical technician Don Crosslin was an early beneficiary. Crosslin started the drug that July. His tumors shrank, then stabilized.

But while the drug has helped keep him alive, its side effects have narrowed the confines of his life. “My appetite has been minimal. I’m very weak. I walk my dogs and get around a bit, but I haven’t been able to golf since last July,” said Crosslin, 76, who has Stage 4 lung cancer and lives in Ocala, Fla.