When Guang Lei was training as a resident physician in China, working with cancer patients left a deep impression on him.
“Seeing their struggles, both the physical and emotional pain they suffered, made me ask myself: How can we improve the way tumors respond to treatment, and how can we bring hope to those who have become resistant to standard therapies?”
That realization pushed him toward cancer research, where he now focuses on ferroptosis, a type of cell death he hopes to harness to tamp down tumor growth.
What really excites Lei is his discovery that radiotherapy — one of the most widely used treatments in lung cancer — can induce this tumor-suppressing mechanism by changing the cell’s metabolism, especially when boosted by ferroptosis inducers after resistance to radiotherapy develops. And preclinical experiments in breast cancers with BRCA1 deficiency also showed that tumors were more vulnerable to ferroptosis when combined with PARP and GPX4 inhibitors, treatments to which some patients become resistant.
“If the results are good, with good tumor suppression and good safety, we may try to initiate clinical trials,” he said about ongoing early research.
Outside the lab or clinic, Lei believes in having a balanced life. That means being active, which for him means playing soccer.
“It’s a great way to stay fit. And it’s helped me clear my mind,” he said. “Doing something physical really helped me recharge.”
—Elizabeth Cooney
