James P. Allison, Tasuku Honjo win Nobel Prize in Medicine for cancer research

The two immunologists have won the prize for their discovery of ‘immune checkpoint therapy,’ a cancer treatment.

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.” Photo: @NobelPrize

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo, by the Nobel committee of the Karolinska Institute.

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The two immunologists — from the U.S. and Japan, respectively — were awarded the Prize “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.”

“Cancer kills millions of people every year and is one of humanity’s greatest health challenges. By stimulating the inherent ability of our immune system to attack tumor cells this year’s Nobel Laureates have established an entirely new principle for cancer therapy,” read a statement from the Academy.

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“The discovery made by the two Medicine Laureates takes advantage of the immune system’s ability to attack cancer cells by releasing the brakes on immune cells,” tweeted the official Nobel Prize handle. “James P. Allison studied a protein that functions as a brake on the immune system. He realised the potential of releasing the brake and unleashing our immune cells to attack tumours. He developed this concept into a new approach for treating patients. Tasuku Honjo discovered a protein on immune cells and revealed that it also operates as a brake, but with a different mechanism of action. Therapies based on his discovery proved to be strikingly effective in the fight against cancer,” the statement added.