Two veteran immunologists who opened the way to immunotherapy treatment of cancer have been honoured with the Nobel Prize.
The prize for physiology and medicine went to Professor James Allison, aged 70, from the USA, and Tasuku Honjo, aged 76, from Japan.
The Nobel Prize committee said the award was for the discovery of cancer therapy “by inhibition of negative immune regulation.”
It went on to say the scientists had “showed how different strategies for inhibiting the brakes on the immune system can be used in the treatment of cancer.
“The seminal discoveries by the two Laureates constitute a landmark in our fight against cancer.”
The decision was widely welcomed among cancer researchers, who praised the pair’s seminal work.
Professor Allison, of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, was the first person to isolate the T-cell antigen receptor complex protein. Dr Honjo’s discoveries include PD-1, the programmed cell death protein 1.
Professor Charles Swanton, from Cancer Research UK, said: “The Nobel Prize-winning discoveries made by these scientists has revolutionised not only our understanding of the immune system and cancer, but also the field of cancer treatment.
“Thanks to this ground-breaking work, our own immune system’s innate power against cancer has been realised and harnessed into treatments that continue to save the lives of patients. For cancers such as advanced melanoma, lung, and kidney, these immune-boosting drugs have transformed the outlook for many patients who had run out of options.
“The booming field of immunotherapy that these discoveries have precipitated is still relatively in its infancy, so it’s exciting to consider how this research will progress in the future and what new opportunities will arise.”
Professor Dan Davis, immunologist at Manchester University, UK, said: “I’m so thrilled that a Nobel has been awarded for this game-changing cancer therapy. It doesn’t work for everyone but lives have been saved, and it has sparked a revolution in thinking about the many other ways in which the immune system can be harnessed or unleashed to fight cancer and other illnesses.
“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg – many more medicines like this are on the horizon."
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