Cancer Immunotherapy wins the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine
Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to Cancer Research
On October 1st, two doctors were awarded this years Nobel Prize in Medicine. James Allison of the University of Texas at Austin and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University accepted the prize together for their research in cancer treatment. The focus of their research is manipulating the human immune system to naturally battle cancer, hence the treatment name Immunotheraphy.
The Nobel Prize celebrates the achievements of cultural and scientific advances in six different fields, likewise medicine is one of those fields. For receiving the prize in medicine, Dr. Allison and Dr. Honjo earned a 1.01 million dollar prize that they will split evenly. Along with this, is the glory of winning such an influential award. Dr. Allison stated, “I’m honored and humbled to receive this prestigious recognition”. As a result of their hard work, the battle against cancer enters the public eye.
What was Found and What Comes Next
Cancer treatment is a varied field with many types of possible solutions, consequently the research to find the best solution is an important task. The most common types of treatment include surgery and chemotherapy, but others exist including immunotherapy. For a long time, immunotherapy faced skepticism from researchers due to its inconsistency and inability to treat all cancers. The main goal of immunotherapy is to enable the body’s immune system to kill cancer cells, which does not happen naturally. Cancer cells contain inhibitors that shut down the immune system.
Dr. Allison focused on an existing protein and found a way to suppress it, so the immune system would function properly. Dr. Honjo discovered a new protein that would allow for a similar result. Scientist refer to this process as taking the brakes off the immune system. It is not perfect, being very costly and unable to treat all cancers, but it is still a large step forward in the fight against cancer. This award brings more attention to the hard work of researchers as they take steps toward finding a cure.
