New Drug Helps New Hope Man Fight Lung Cancer, 6 Years & Counting

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International assignments are part of the job for 51-year-old Shuhei Sekiguchi, who works at a large global, U.S-based company. In 2019, while working in Japan, an X-ray during an annual medical checkup revealed what turned out to be small-cell lung cancer.

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"Just shock because I didn't have any symptoms," says Shuhei. "The first searches on the internet guide you to all sorts of misinformation, where they basically tell you that there's really not too many options, especially for extensive small cell."

That was seven years ago. Today, there are options. Community oncologists who treat all types of cancers and patient advocates say it's important to ask what new, innovative treatments are available. The pace of research moves so fast it's difficult to keep track of all the developments. According to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA), recent advances in innovative treatments for small-cell lung cancer can lead to both a longer and better quality of life.

"We have more options and better options now than we did before," says Dr. Hossein Borghaei, hematology/oncology department interim chair and professor of thoracic oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center. "There are promising clinical trials and active research in small cell that we did not have 10 years ago."

Those clinical trials lead to new FDA approvals. In 2025, the FDA fully approved BiTE therapy, bispecific T-cell engager drugs for small-cell treatment. BiTE therapy harnesses the body's immune system to attack cancer. It is a form of immunotherapy that involves specific T-cells that grab the tumor cells, grab the immune cells, and bring them together to create an immune response.

Shuhei's treatment began with chemotherapy and radiation while he was working in Taiwan. Then, his career took Shuhei and his family back to Japan.

"I think we came back after Christmas and it was spreading," Shuhei says. "Thankfully, I had a really good pulmonologist and oncologist that I was assigned to in Japan. He was the one who suggested I join phase one clinical trial (for a BiTE therapy drug). And that was 6 years ago."

Today, BiTE therapy can be used alongside chemotherapy at the beginning of treatment for small cell. It can also be used to keep cancer in check. Shuhei still has the treatments. He is still part of the clinical trial, even though he now lives and works in the U.S.

"This is part of one large global clinical trial," Shuhei says. "The transitions in care were less about the logistics of trial enrollment, than it was about living with cancer and continuing with my career."

"International collaborations are essential in accelerating research and improving outcomes," says Dr. Borghaei.

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the United States. In 2025, it caused more deaths than breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined.

"I was very fortunate. They caught it," Shuhei says. Shuhei did not smoke, does not have a history of smoking and he was not 50 years old at the time of diagnosis. Annual screening is recommended for people who are 50 to 80 years old, and a 20-pack a year or more smoking history.

"Screening can capture disease in an earlier stage where chances for cure are higher. For an aggressive disease like small cell, earlier detection could lead to better outcomes," says Dr. Borghaei.

"The thing about small cell is even as a non-expert, you can see it grow. You can see it, image to image, that it's spreading," says Shuhei. "And I think just to have some hope during something like that is important."

For more information, visit Lung Cancer Foundation of America's website https://lcfamerica.org/

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