The treatment of cancer that has earned an immunologist a Nobel Prize

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo, two immunologists, for their work on immune checkpoint therapy. Although Allison is an American professor, chair of the Immunology Council, and executive director of the MD Anderson Cancer Center's Immunotherapy Platform in Texas, Honjo is Deputy Executive Director and Distinguished Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the US. Kyoto University.

But what is the immune checkpoint therapy? Let's find out

This is the process of treating cancer cells by releasing the existing braking system in the human immune system to fight cells.

Two proteins are involved in the braking process: PD-1 (Tasuku Honjo discovered in 1992) and CTLA-4 (James P Allison studied during the 1990s). Both proteins act as brakes in the immune system, which includes T cells, a type of white blood cell, involved in the fight against the foreign body. When one or the other protein binds to the T cell, it stops fighting the foreign body and the defense shield ends up being broken. In some cases, some cancer cells also contain these proteins, which allows them to invade the body without much difficulty. The two scientists worked on inhibiting these brakes, so that the immune system continues to fight and be able to fight against cancer.

In their research, it has been proven that the inhibition of such brakes has cured lung cancer, kidney cancer, lymphoma and melanoma. Like other anticancer treatments, this also has side effects such as an overactive immune response leading to autoimmune reactions, which means that the body's cells are treated like foreign bodies and that the immune system is fighting against these cells. This could be life-threatening in some circumstances, but they are generally manageable, the scientists say. It has also been revealed that further and focused research is underway to improve treatment and reduce its side effects.