Author: Tina Hesman Saey / Source: Science News
Stopping cancer by removing brakes on the immune system has earned James P.
Allison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University in Japan the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.“Allison’s and Honjo’s discoveries have added a new pillar in cancer therapy,” Nobel committee member Klas Kärre said in an Oct. 1 news conference announcing the prize. “It’s a new principle.”
Other therapies, such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, target tumor cells themselves. The two laureates’ strategy was to persuade the patient’s own immune system to go after the cancer (SN: 7/11/15, p. 14). “The seminal discoveries by the two laureates constitutes a paradigmatic shift and a landmark in the fight against cancer,” Kärre said.
The newly minted laureates will equally share the prize of 9 million kronor, equivalent to just over $1 million.
Both men have made substantial contributions to basic research in immunology beyond their work in cancer, says Norman “Ned” Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm chose to honor the men’s achievement in cancer immunotherapy, but they “also deserve lifetime achievement awards for their contributions to science,” Sharpless says.
A patient with non-small cell lung cancer received a treatment targeting the T cell protein PD-1, unleashing the cells to fight the cancer. At two months, the T cells have infiltrated the tumor (red arrows), making it appear bigger. But at four months, the immune cells’ continued attack has shrunk the tumor.
The prize honors Allison’s and Honjo’s work on proteins that help the immune system recognize invading organisms and cancer cells, turning those proteins into therapeutic targets. Allison discovered that CTLA-4, a protein on the surface of immune cells called T cells, holds those cells back from attacking tumors. Allison’s lab developed an antibody against CTLA-4 to release the brake and…
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