Helena A. Yu

Helena A. Yu, MD is an Associate Attending in the Thoracic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). She is the foremost clinical expert on RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer and has been central to the clinical development of both approved selective RET inhibitors: selpercatinib and pralsetinib. Dr. Yu was a lead investigator on LIBRETTO-001, the phase I/II study of selpercatinib that demonstrated unprecedented response rates (64% in platinum-pretreated, 84% in treatment-naïve patients) in RET fusion-positive NSCLC with intracranial activity, leading to accelerated FDA approval. She also contributed to the ARROW trial that established pralsetinib for the same indication. Beyond defining efficacy, Dr. Yu has led pioneering studies of acquired resistance to selective RET inhibitors, identifying on-target resistance mutations (including RETG810 solvent-front mutations and kinase domain mutations) and off-target bypass mechanisms, and evaluating next-generation RET inhibitors in preclinical and early clinical settings. At MSK, she has co-developed one of the largest institutional cohorts of RET-altered lung cancer patients, enabling comprehensive characterization of clinical outcomes, CNS activity, and biomarkers of response and resistance. Dr. Yu is also a leader in the broader field of rare driver-alteration NSCLC, regularly contributing to genomic landscape analyses and guideline development.