Nobel Laureate Tasuku Honjo on cancer immunotherapy // Interview

Dr. Tasuku Honjo shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for a groundbreaking discovery that contributed to breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapy. // More ↓

By stimulating the inherent ability of our immune system to attack tumor cells, Dr. Honjo helped establish an entirely new principle for cancer therapy that is often compared to the revolutionary discovery of penicillin for the treatment of infectious diseases. In 1992, he discovered a protein on immune cells called PD-1 and revealed that it operates as a brake, preventing the immune system from perceiving its own body as a threat—but it also holds the body back from fighting cancer. The FDA approved the first PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, pembrolizumab, to treat melanoma in 2014. Since then, the agency has approved at least four more PD-1 inhibitors for the treatment of nine types of cancer.

We caught up with Dr. Honjo before his Science in the Neighborhood lecture, "Serendipities of Acquired Immunity," at the Department of Embryology on September 16, 2019. We spoke about his current inspiration, the future of cancer immunotherapy, acquired immunity, and the importance of gut microbiota!

Watch the full lecture here:    • Serendipities of Acquired Immunity (Dr. Ta...  

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The Science in the Neighborhood Public Lecture Series provides an opportunity to get up close and personal with top scientists and alumni at the Carnegie Science Department of Embryology in Baltimore, MD. These events are free and open to the community, and are designed to share insight into the Department’s work in biological and genetic research.

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The Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Embryology
Visit: https://emb.carnegiescience.edu/
Twitter:   / carnegiedevbio  

Carnegie's Department of Embryology has become recognized worldwide as one of the premier research centers in cellular, developmental, and genetic biology. The department has a unique atmosphere and research style that have allowed a small enterprise to have a disproportionately large impact on science. We revere this atmosphere as the source of our inspiration and strive to further improve it as the department evolves within the current milieu of intensive activity, investment, and opportunity in the biological sciences.