STOCKHOLM (AP) — Immunologist Tasuku Honjo of Japan, co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in medicine, says he began his research after a medical school classmate died from stomach cancer less than two years after it was discovered.
The 76-year-old, speaking Monday at Kyoto University in Japan after the Nobel was announced in Stockholm, says his biggest reward now is to hear from cancer patients who have regained their health after being treated.
Honjo, an avid golf player, said a member of a golf club once walked up to him suddenly, thanking him for the discovery that treated his lung cancer.
Honjo says "He told me, 'Thanks to you I can play golf again.' ...That was a blissful moment. A comment like that makes me happier than any prize."
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