James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo win Nobel prize for medicine

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

An American and a Japanese scientist have won the 2018 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for discovery of a revolutionary approach to cancer treatment.
...
The two scientists have been awarded the prize for their discovery that the body’s immune system can be harnessed to attack cancer cells.

The immune system normally seeks out and destroys mutated cells, but cancer cells find sophisticated ways to hide from immune attacks, allowing them to thrive and grow. Many types of cancer do this by ramping up a braking mechanism that keeps immune cells in check.

The discovery is transforming cancer treatments and has led to a new class of drugs that work by switching off the braking mechanism, prompting the immune cells to attack cancer cells. The drugs have significant side-effects, but have been shown to be effective – including, in some cases, against late-stage cancers that were previously untreatable.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/01/james-p-allison-and-tasuku-honjo-win-nobel-prize-for-medicine

[Bayard]

1. The wave of the future

Excellent. Wonder how long it will take to perfect?

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

Honjo, an avid golfer, said he was once approached at a golf club by a fellow player, who thanked him for the discovery that treated his lung cancer. “He told me, ‘Thanks to you I can play golf again’,” Honjo said. “That was a blissful moment. A comment like that makes me happier than any prize.”

[dalton99a]

3. BTW No Nobel prize for literature will be awarded this year

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/04/nobel-prize-for-literature-2018-cancelled-after-sexual-assault-scandal

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Indeed; the husband was sentenced today

See https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142168889