Nobel Prize for Medicine 2018 Goes to James Allison and Tasuku Honjo

This year America’s James Allison and Japan’s Tasuku Honjo have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their pioneering approach in the treatment of cancer. 

According to the Nobel committee, the research of both the scientists, which harnesses the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells, has amounted to a landmark pillar in the fight against cancer. The approach which is also known as immune checkpoint theory, has, “revolutionized cancer treatment and has fundamentally changed the way we view how cancer can be managed”, the Nobel committee said.

Sharing the news of Nobel, Allison said, that his son was the first person to inform him about the news early in the morning followed by an official call from Nobel Committee, “I’m still in sort of a state of shock and this is all still sinking in. The Nobel committee told me when I was called this morning that this was the first prize they've ever given for cancer therapy. I’d like to just give a shout out to all the patients out there who are suffering from cancer to let them know that we are making progress now”.

James Allison is the executive director and Chair of Immunology of the Immunotherapy Platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, who has studied a protein that works as a brake on the immune system. Releasing the brake also allows immune cells thereby attacking the tumors, Allison’s research found. 

The discovery has led to an effective treatment. T cells, which is a type of white blood cell are also a part of the immune system which helps protect the body from infection and therefore it helps in the fight against cancer.

Now with the declaration, Allison will be honored at the Nobel ceremonies in Stockholm this December. Allison is also looking forward to meet fellow honoree Honjo in Stockholm.

Tasuku Honjo, who has been working with Kyoto University in Japan as Professor for last 34 years, discovered a kind of protein on the immune cells and has illustrated how that also can operate as a brake, though with a different type of action. The cancer therapies, which are based on his method, have proved to be very much effective in fighting cancer.

The Nobel Committee also tweeted, “Cancer kills millions of people every year and is one of humanity's greatest health challenges. By stimulating the ability of our immune system to attack tumor cells, this year's #Nobel Prize laureates have established an entirely new principle for cancer therapy”.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology has been awarded 108 times to 214 Nobel laureates between 1901 and 2017.