We are thrilled about the ongoing investment in research supported by the Happy Lungs Project. Because of your support, we are advancing groundbreaking research that will save lives.
Join us in celebrating these exciting advancements related to RET-positive lung cancer research and treatment.
Collaborations that Make a Difference
We are actively partnering with key researchers from across the country, many of whom have joined our Scientific Advisory Board, who are collaborating with the common goal of finding a cure for RET-positive lung cancer.
In addition, with the help of our Director of Research, Irene Guijarro Munoz, we are facilitating regular conferences where experts from major U.S. cancer centers (MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Massachusetts General/Harvard, Stanford, and UT Southwestern, among others) gather to discuss and share new findings on RET research.
Exciting Research Advances
As a result of these collaborations, promising steps are being made in the area of investigating new therapies for RET-inhibitor resistant disease and developing new immunotherapies for RET cancer.
Our funded investigators performed a large characterization of RET cancer cells and tumors, and they found that certain RET alterations are more sensitive to specific RET inhibitors (drugs). This is clinically relevant and could potentially determine the optimal therapy for RET inhibitor-resistant patients bearing specific RET alterations. The research also identified different targets on the membrane of cells from RET tumors, and researchers are now working on targeting them using innovative approaches such as antibody-based immunotherapies.
With the aim of developing new immunotherapies for RET cancer, investigators were able to identify RET-specific antigens (molecules that are over-expressed on the surface of RET cancer tumors) and demonstrate that these molecules are able to be recognized by the immune system (by T cells) and destroyed. They are now validating these findings in the lab with the intention of developing new adoptive T cell therapies (TCR therapy) for RET tumors.
This is a type of therapy that uses the modification of T cells in a lab to treat cancer. T cells are taken from a patient’s blood, reengineered in the lab so they effectively attack cancer cells, grown and expanded to have large numbers of T cells and returned to the patient via infusion. Ideally, once validated, this cell therapy will be used to treat thousands of RET patients who are currently in need of new more durable treatments.
Our funded investigators have a track record of quickly translating their findings to the clinic. We are excited about the possibility of opening new clinical trials that are much needed for RET patients, especially those who are becoming resistant to current FDA-approved RET therapies.
Advancements and Hope for the Future
These research updates are important not only because they advance the science, but also because they provide hope to cancer survivors and their families. And this is all due to the support of The Happy Lungs Project from so many. Together, we are saving lives. Thank you!
