Allison, Honjo Win Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Oct 01 2018, 9:37 AMOct 01 2018, 12:09 PMOctober 01 2018, 9:37 AMOctober 01 2018, 12:09 PM

(Bloomberg) -- James P. Allison of the U.S. and Tasuku Honjo of Japan were awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.

The winners "showed how different strategies for inhibiting the brakes on the immune system can be used in the treatment of cancer," the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet said in a statement on Monday. "The seminal discoveries by the two Laureates constitute a landmark in our fight against cancer."

Annual prizes for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, peace and literature were established in the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, who died in 1896. The prize in economic sciences was added by Sweden’s central bank in 1968. The total amount for each of the 2018 prizes is 9 million kronor ($1 million).