Researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas’ School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics have refined a method they developed to change the environment surrounding lung cancer cells so that chemotherapy or radiation treatment can more easily destroy them. Her research demonstrates that heme-sequestering proteins (HeSPs) designed by her research group slow the growth of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells in mice. “The idea of using a bacterial hemophore to sequester heme from tumor cells is Dr. Zhang’s original idea,” she said. “In the lung tumor’s environment, the blood vessels are very dense and leaky, which gives tumors abnormally high access to heme. In multiple ways, our method normalizes a tumor’s environment.”Targeting Other TumorsThe researchers also tested the HeSPs on a second type of lung cancer cell, as well as in a breast cancer model.