Cancer Patients Thankful to Nobel Winner Honjo

October 3, 2018

Tokyo- After Monday's announcement that this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Tasuku Honjo, professor at Kyoto University, cancer patients voiced gratitude for his contributions to the development of the Opdivo cancer drug.

Koichi Shimizu, a 41-year-old resident of Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2012 following a medical checkup.

The cancer was found to have spread to his adrenal glands and brain the next year.

In December 2016, metastasis to the brain occurred again and his cancer was also found to have spread to his spiral cord. He then started treatment with Opdivo.

One month later, Shimizu's tumor marker levels began to decline and his headaches eased. He used Opdivo until around July last year and says he is still in good condition.

"I was shocked" to learn of the first metastasis, Shimizu said, adding that he wondered how long he would live to see the growth of his infant son.

"Opdivo has allowed me to plan for my future," Shimizu said. His second son was born last year.

Kazuyuki Kuryu, a 53-year-old company worker in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in May 2016. Multiple metastases were confirmed as well.

"How long will I live?" he wondered.

After treatment with conventional anticancer drugs produced little improvement, he used Opdivo for a glimmer of hope, and his symptoms improved in a few months.

Kuryu recovered so much that he was healthy enough to attend the high school graduation ceremony of his eldest daughter in March this year.

"I'm looking forward to her coming-of-age ceremony," he said.

Opdivo opened the door to new treatment for cancer patients who had been untreatable under conventional methods, said Koji Onishi, who set up a lung cancer patient group in Mie Prefecture, central Japan.

"Honjo has definitely saved some patients," Onishi said.

Opdivo has been approved for only a handful of cancers and is not always effective for every patient. Kuryu expressed hopes for further advances in medicine.