Nobel laureates: Despite progress, cancer won’t be wiped out

The winners of this year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine say they expect substantial advances toward treating cancer in the next several decades, although it is unlikely the disease could be eradicated.

James Allison of the United States and Tasuku Honjo of Japan make the assessments at a news conference ahead of receiving the 9 million-kronor ($999,000) prize.

They were named winners of the prize in October for their work in immunotherapy — activating the body’s natural defense system to fight tumors.

“Soon we’ll get close with some cancers,” Allison says, citing progress against some forms including melanoma. But, he says, “the world will never be cancer-free.”

Honjo says he expects that immunotherapy will eventually be used against most cancers, often in combination with radiation or chemotherapy, and that cancer can effectively be stalled “even if we cannot completely eliminate the tumor, if we can survive with some tumor.”

“I think what is coming next are triple combinations and quadruple combinations,” Allison says.

Although immunotherapy is an advance against cancer treatment, the costs are high, with courses of treatment reportedly exceeding $100,000.

— AP