Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Two Cancer Immunotherapy Researchers

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute announced on Monday, Oct. 1, the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to James P. Allison, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Tasuku Honjo, MD, PhD, Deputy Director-General and Distinguished Professor of Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study in Japan, for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.

Their work laid the foundation for a new class of cancer drugs, checkpoint inhibitors, and established a fourth pillar of cancer treatment—immunotherapy.

In a statement, the Nobel Assembly lauded the two Laureates for creating “an entirely new principle for cancer therapy.”

Read the Nobel Assembly statement.

Listen to Dr. Allison's remarks at a press briefing on Oct. 1 during the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference.

Posted 10/2/18