James Allison of the United States and Tasuku Honjo of Japan each received the Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award in Shanghai on Dec 17 for their outstanding contributions to immunotherapy that have been proven to prolong the survival of patients suffering from particular types of cancer.

Melanoma patients, when left untreated, have a median survival period of just 11 months. Those who are treated with conventional drugs live only about four months longer.

Based on Allison's treatment method, which involves administering four injections every three weeks, 22 percent of melanoma patients will still live after 10 years. Honjo's treatment method, which is administered to the patient every two weeks for as long as two years, increases this ratio to 26 percent.

The premise of their treatment methods lies in using antibodies to suppress certain genes that act as a braking mechanism in the immune response. By doing so, the patient's immune system would be able to better fight against cancer.

"When the two immune treatments are combined, the survival rate would be raised to around 60 percent. It's been three years and tens of thousands of patients have already been treated by this combination," Allison told China Daily.

The Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award was jointly founded by Shanghai-based Fudan University and Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, an asset management entity headquartered in Beijing. This was the first time the award was presented.

According to Fudan University, candidates for the award represent cutting-edge global innovation standards in science and technology that can significantly improve the quality of human lives.

"The best news I think is that we now know the basic rules of cancer treatment. For melanoma, for example, the survival curve drops in the first two years and at about three years it plateaus and remains so for 10 years."