Meet the winners of Nobel Prize for Medicine 2018

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The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has announced the winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The Nobel Medicine Prize 2018 has been awarded jointly to James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo for their 'Discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation'.

Cancer kills millions of people every year and is one of humanity’s greatest health challenges. By stimulating the inherent ability of our immune system to attack tumour cells this year’s Nobel Laureates have established an entirely new principle for cancer therapy.

Allison studied a protein that functions as a brake on the immune system. He realised the potential of releasing the brake and unleashing our immune cells to attack tumours. He developed this concept into a new approach for treating patients.

Tasuku Honjo discovered a protein on immune cells and revealed that it also operates as a brake, but with a different mechanism of action. Therapies based on his discovery proved to be strikingly effective in the fight against cancer.

Medicine is the first of the Nobel Prizes awarded each year. The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were created in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901.

Important Note : The Nobel Literature Prize 2018 will not be handed out this year after the awarding body was hit by a sexual misconduct scandal.  

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