Immune checkpoint blockade (CTLA-4, PD-1)
Inmunoterapia del cáncer por bloqueo de puntos de control (CTLA-4, PD-1)
- Date
- 1992-2011 · confidence high
- Place
- UC Berkeley, California / Kyoto University, Japan
- Credited to
- James Allison (CTLA-4, 1996) and Tasuku Honjo (PD-1, 1992)
- People
- 👤 James P. Allison1948–👤 Tasuku Honjo1942–
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Blocking the molecular brakes on T cells unleashes the immune system against the tumour. Ipilimumab (2011) and anti-PD-1 drugs achieved durable remissions in melanoma and other metastatic cancers.
Nobel Prize 2018.
What it led to
- a fourth cancer treatment modality alongside surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy
- CAR-T therapies and neoantigen vaccines
- a pharmaceutical market worth tens of billions
Built on
- Monoclonal antibodies (hybridoma technique)1975
- Coley's toxins (1891)
- T-cell biology
Made possible
- pembrolizumab, nivolumab
- immunotherapy combinations