Houston Chronicle by Todd Ackerman Oct. 1, 2018
The Houston scientist whose pioneering research has revolutionized cancer treatment was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine Monday.
Dr. Jim Allison, MD Anderson Cancer Center’s chairman of immunology, and Japan’s Tasuku Honjo received the prize for research that’s led to a class of drugs that have cured patients whose disease was considered hopeless. The research has finally realized the tantalizing promise of immunotherapy, which is now taking its place alongside surgery, radiation and chemotherapy as a pillar of cancer treatment. Immunotherapy unleashes the immune system to attack tumors.
“Allison and Honjo showed how different strategies for inhibiting the brakes on the immune system can be used in the treatment of cancer,†the Nobel committee wrote. “The seminal discoveries by the two Laureates constitute a landmark in our fight against cancer.â€
The prize is the first ever Nobel given for cancer therapy, the committee told Allison.
A shout out to patients
At a press conference Monday, Allison said he’s in “a sort of state of shock†at winning the Nobel, then added, “I’d like to just give a shout-out to all the patients out there who are suffering from cancer to let them know that we are making progress now.â€
Allison told the Chronicle he’d tuned out the buzz building before Monday’s announcement that this might be the year. “I get apprehensive, try to hide,†he said. “I don’t want to talk about the possibility.â€
Allison, 70, showed a recently discovered protein known as CTLA-4 acts as a brake to rein in the immune system, then developed a drug, Yervoy, to release it to destroy cancer cells. Honjo discovered PD-1, another protein expressed on the surface of T-cells that acts as a brake.
At the time of Allison’s discovery, most scientists thought CTLA-4 activated T cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system.
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