Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to American and Japanese scientists for their contribution to cancer

Dr. Honjo is a professor in the Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine of Kyoto University.

Their work is "a milestone in our fight against cancer," the Swedish Academy said on Twitter, "taking advantage of the immune system's ability to attack cancer cells by releasing the brakes of immune cells." . "

Tumor cells spread in the body posing as normal cells, thus allowing them to avoid attacks from the immune system. Nobel laureate research has found ways to "unmask" cancer cells, making them vulnerable to the body's natural immune defenses.

In recent years, several pharmaceutical companies have launched treatments using this mechanism to treat cancer. Until now, these treatments have had the greatest success in melanoma – a form of skin cancer – and lung cancer.

Dr. Allison's work has focused on the study of a known protein that acts as a brake on the immune system. He discovered that activation of this switch could allow the immune system to attack tumors and used this mechanism to develop a new form of cancer treatment.

Dr. Honjo has discovered a protein on immune cells that also acts as a brake, but in a different way, and that can be used in the treatment of cancer.

"Before the discoveries made by the 2018 laureates, progress in clinical development was modest," said the academy. The treatment they developed called the immune control system at checkpoints and "fundamentally changed the way we view cancer treatment," said the Academy.

Dr. Allison has spoken publicly about her personal connection to cancer. His mother died of lymphoma at the age of 11 and he lost two uncles, a brother and friends. He is a survivor of prostate cancer and melanoma himself.

Lewis Lanier, president of UCSF's Department of Microbiology and Immunology, said he and Dr. Allison had been friends for 30 years, and Dr. Allison's drug discovery was due not only to his scientific discoveries, but also to its persistence. "He spent 10 years knocking on the doors of many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies saying that this concept was going to work," said Dr. Lanier on Monday.

In addition to science, Dr. Allison's passion is music. He plays harmonica in a band with other doctors and researchers called The Checkpoints. According to his friends, one of Dr. Allison's proudest moments was playing the harmonica on stage in front of 70,000 people with country singer Willie Nelson.

Dr. Honjo said at a press conference at the University of Kyoto that he was "extremely honored" to receive this award. Dr. Honjo, who has received numerous awards in Japan, said that he appreciated the value of his work when recovering patients thank him for developing the treatment.

Asked what he would like to do now, Dr. Honjo, who looked well adjusted, said he was working hard to get his golfing age. He's 76 now, so that would mean shooting at 76 or less. "It's my biggest goal," he said. "I play golf every week and practice putting at home."

More seriously, he said that cancer treatment was still a "work in progress" and predicted that by the end of this century, treatments would be found for patients who are not helped by current therapies.

Dr. Honjo said in an interview published by the academy that he never expected his research on the immune system to lead to cancer treatment.

"You have to try a lot of things, but if you're lucky, you hit," he said.

The announcement of the award begins a week of recognition by the academy for its efforts in the fields of science, economics and peace promotion.

The Nobel Prize for Literature was canceled this year – for the first time since the Second World War – after the academy said it needed time to repair the damage caused by a prolonged scandal of sexual assault and financial irregularities . Two literary prizes will be awarded next year.

The French at the center of the scandal was sentenced Monday by a Swedish court to two years in prison for rape.

– Amy Dockser Marcus, Dominic Chopping and Alistair Gale contributed to this article.

Write to Joanna Sugden at [email protected] and Denise Roland at [email protected]