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Miss the 2024 RET Research Update? Watch it here

Our mission: To save the lives of RET-positive lung cancer patients by advancing research and treatment options.

We fund and facilitate cancer research, and we educate and empower patients to participate in clinical trials and lung cancer registries.

lung cancer research community

Scientific research can be confusing and overwhelming

Get our monthly emails about RET-positive research and what it means for current treatment options and future therapies.

About The Happy Lungs Project

Since our inception in 2021, The Happy Lungs Project has awarded more than $1 million in RET-positive lung cancer research grants. We also educate lung cancer patients and caregivers about ongoing studies and how their participation in clinical trials and registries can improve RET-positive treatment options and patient survival. Join our efforts to save the lives of RET-positive lung cancer patients by advancing research and treatment options.

Treatment

Find out about recent RET treatment options.

Research Funding

Patient Education

When Abnormal Cells Multiply

RET-positive cancer is caused by a mutation or abnormal re-arrangement of the RET gene. This leads to abnormal activation of the cell membrane receptor, basically resulting in the “on-off” switch to get stuck in the “on” position and causing these abnormal cells to multiply and spread. RET alterations occur most commonly in lung cancer – specifically non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) – and approximately 37,500 people are diagnosed worldwide and 4,000 in the U.S. each year. 

Currently, selpercatinib and pralsetinib are the two FDA-approved RET-inhibitors that selectively target the RET protein. While these treatments show great benefit in most patients, within 1-3 years many RET-positive lung cancer patients become resistant to the therapies and their cancer progresses again. Finding new therapies that prevent resistance and are effective long-term is critical.

Learn more about RET-positive NSCLC
Lilly Pharma supports ret gene, ret fusion and RET lung cancer research

Introducing Our New Clinical Trials Matching Tool

Clinical trials offer hope to patients – and critical information to researchers that can lead to improved treatment options. We provide information about the latest clinical trials for RET-positive patients. Use our tool to match to a trial.

Proudly Collaborating With These Organizations

lilly pharmaceutical
MD Anderson lung cancer center
Lungeveity
RET positive group
ret renegades
cancer prevention research institute of Texas
UT southwestern medical non-small cell lung cancer research
massachusetts general hospital RET lung cancer partner
memorial sloan kettering non-small cell lung cancer
GO2 RET lung cancer education
biomarker collaborative NSCLC ret inhibitor research
23andMe lung cancer registry

I have witnessed first hand how the Happy Lungs Project has transformed the journey of my beloved niece who has lung cancer. I am so grateful for their collaborative approach in bring together top experts, advocating and funding critical research and connecting her with compassionate doctors who truly understand her needs.

Faanya RoseFamily member

The Happy Lungs Project has transformed my journey with lung cancer. They helped me to understand the science and the best next steps during the unimaginable, proving that I am never alone in this fight. I am grateful for their support and their unrelenting focus on research.

AnonymousPatient

The HLP is a lifeline for our RET-positive community. Beyond groundbreaking research and specialized physician access, they bring something essential: hope. And hope is the foundation needed to face and fight this disease.

Dolores ParkerSupporter

Watching my husband live with stage 4 lung cancer feels like living in everlasting darkness. But then there’s Happy Lungs. It’s more than an organization; it’s hope and a glimmer of light piercing through the darkness, a family I never knew I needed.

AnonymousCaregiver