Have "crucial contributors" been shunned when the Nobel Prize for cancer immunotherapy is awarded?

[I]It is rare that the Nobel Prize announcements do not provoke a sense of who has been left out and this year was no exception. At least three other scientists have contributed greatly to the basic research that has led to cancer immunotherapy.

[James] Allison gained by discovering that a molecule on the surface of immune system T cells, called CTLA-4, acts as a "checkpoint inhibitor" (a term he coined), a biological brake to T cells and a brake block (including with an antibody that he has developed) can release these T cells to fight cancer. [Tasuku] Honjo has discovered another of these checkpoints, called PD-1, which also prevents T cells from attacking cancer cells.

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At a meeting on immuno-oncology in New York – Monday [Oct. 1] Afternoon, Allison was welcomed as a rock star. Scientists asked him for his autograph and selfies. Three cancer immunotherapy experts said they were "shocked". [other] Scientists who have played a key role in the development of control point inhibitors exploiting the PD-1 pathway have been neglected.

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The Nobel Prize in Medicine 2018 is only the latest in date, where the rule of three gives a misleading impression of how science is made. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, of the British Council for Research on Medicine, 2009 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and President of the Royal Society, said Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, chairman of the British Royal Research Council.

Read the full original message: Ghost Club: Critical contributors to cancer immunotherapy excluded from Nobel drug