ABSTRACT - Food and Drug Administration approves AstraZeneca's drug Iressa for treating people with lung cancer who have run out of other options; drug is first of new class of therapies that can attack tumors while avoiding some of usual side effects of chemotherapy; drug does not work for vast majority of patients and is associated with potentially fatal side effect, type of pneumonia; FDA's decision that benefits of drug outweigh risk is seen by some patient advocates and by analysts as new sign of flexiblity on part of FDA in viewing drugs for life-threatening diseases; some advocacy groups have criticized FDA, saying it has demanded too heavy burden of proof for drugs, even when patient will die anyway; Frank Burroughs, president of Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs, praises FDA Comr Mark B McClellan for speeding up drug reviews; FDA officials say there is no new leniency; La Jolla Pharmaceutical says it will submit application for approval of its drug Riquent for treating lupus even though main clinical trial of drug did not meet its goal; Corixa Corp says FDA has delayed decision for three months on Bexxar, its drug for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but company's comments suggest it is likely to win approval; chart; photo (M) The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved a drug for treating people with lung cancer who have run out of other options.

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