Nobel Prize in Medicine 2018 - cancer immunotherapy

The Nobel Prize in Medicine 2018 was awarded jointly to cancer researchers James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo who discovered a cancer therapy that works by inhibition of negative immune regulation. Both researchers independently discovered methods of "removing the brakes" or stimulating the immune system to fight cancer - now called immune checkpoint therapy.

One of the proteins responsible, Programmed Death-1 (PD-1) protein, binds sialic acid confirming the critical role of carbohydrates in the fight against cancer (read more about this sialic acid binding immunoglobulin (Ig)-like lectin).

Additional articles of interest

• PD-1 signaling in primary T cells
• PD-1 (Programmed Cell Death Protein 1) at the PDB 

Bibliography

• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2018. Mon. 1 Oct 2018. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2018/summary/>
• Nobel prize for medicine won by cancer researchers – as it happened
• Nobel Prize in medicine goes to cancer immunotherapy researchers