The 2018 medicine Nobel prize has gone to Japan’s Tasuku Honjo at the University of Kyoto and American James Allison at Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for a pioneering approach to cancer treatment. Their work on inhibiting the immune system to combat cancer is already considered transformative, but will doubtless prolong many more lives as therapies based on the breakthroughs are developed further.
The Nobel committee said the pair’s research — which harnesses the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells — amounted to a “landmark in our fight against cancer.” Their approach, known as immune checkpoint theory, had “revolutionized cancer treatment and has fundamentally changed the way we view how cancer can be managed,” the committee said.