US, Japan duo win Nobel Medicine Prize for cancer therapy

Two immunologists , James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan , won the 2018 Nobel Medicine Prize for research into how the body ’ s natural defences can fight cancer , the jury said on Monday .Unlike more traditional forms of cancer treatment that directly target cancer cells — often with severe side -effects — Allison and Honjo figured out how to help the patient ’ s own immune system tackle cancer more quickly .

The award – winning discovery led to treatments targeting proteins made by some immune system cells that act as a “ brake ” on the body ’ s natural defences killing cancer cells .

The Nobel Assembly in Stockholm said the therapy “ has now revolutionised cancer treatment and has fundamentally changed the way we view how cancer can be managed ” .

In 1995 , Allison was one of two scientists to identify the CTLA -4 molecule as an inhibitory receptor on T -cells , a type of white blood cell that play a central role in the body ’ s natural immunity to disease .

Allison , 70 , “ realised the potential of releasing the brake and thereby unleashing our immune cells to attack tumours , ” the Nobel jury said .

Around the same time, Honjo discovered a protein on immune cells , the ligand PD – 1 , and eventually realised that it also worked as a brake but in a different way.

– ‘Honoured and humbled’ –

On the website of his University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Allison said he was “ honoured and humbled to receive this prestigious recognition ” .

“ I never dreamed my research would take the direction it has , ” he said .

“ It ’ s a great, emotional privilege to meet cancer patients who ’ ve been successfully treated with immune checkpoint blockade . They are living proof of the power of basic science , of following our urge to learn and to understand how things work . ”

Honjo , 76 , meanwhile vowed to push ahead with his work .

“ I want to continue my research … so that this immune therapy will save more cancer patients than ever , ” he told reporters at the University of Kyoto where he is based .

The Nobel jury said that “ for more than 100 years , scientists attempted to engage the immune system in the fight against cancer ” .

“ Until the seminal discoveries by the two laureates , progress into clinical development was modest . ”

Antibodies against PD -1 have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an investigational new drug and developed for the treatment of cancer .

Research by Allison ’ s team has meanwhile led to the development of a monoclonal antibody drug , which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) in 2011 for the treatment of melanoma . It is known commercially as Yervoy .

Allison and Honjo have previously shared the 2014 Tang Prize, touted as Asia ’ s version of the Nobels , for their research .

– New therapies ‘desperately needed ’ –

Other cancer treatments have previously been awarded Nobel prizes , including methods for hormone treatment for prostate cancer in 1966 , chemotherapy in 1988 and bone marrow transplantation for leukaemia in 1990 .

“ However , advanced cancer remains immensely difficult to treat , and novel therapeutic strategies are desperately needed , ” the Nobel Assembly said .

“ This is just the tip of the iceberg — many more medicines like this are on the horizon , ” University of Manchester immunologist Dan Davis said in a statement.

The duo will share the Nobel prize sum of nine million Swedish kronor ( about $ 1 . 01 million or 870 , 000 euros ) .

They will receive their prize from Sweden ’ s King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10 , the anniversary of the 1896 death of Alfred Nobel who created the prizes in his last will and testament .

Monday ’ s announcement was partially eclipsed by a Stockholm court ’ s decision to sentence Frenchman Jean – Claude Arnault at the heart of a Nobel scandal to two years in prison for rape , in a scandal that emerged during the # MeToo campaign .

Arnault , 72 , is married to a member of the Swedish Academy which selects the Nobel Literature Prize winner, and his cultural club Forum received generous funding from the Academy.

The scandal has led to a bitter internal dispute that has prevented the Academy from functioning properly , and as a result it postponed this year ’ s Literature Prize until 2019 — the first time the prize has been delayed since 1949 .

The winners of this year’ s physics prize will be announced on Tuesday , followed by the chemistry prize on Wednesday . The peace prize will be announced on Friday , and the economics prize will wrap up the Nobel season on Monday , October 8 .

( AFP )

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