<unk> , sold under the brand name Yervoy, is a monoclonal antibody medication that works to activate the immune system by targeting CTLA-4, a protein receptor that downregulates the immune system. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) can recognize and destroy cancer cells. However, an inhibitory mechanism interrupts this destruction.<unk>  turns off this inhibitory mechanism and boosts the body's immune response against cancer cells.<unk>  was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2011, for the treatment of melanoma, a type of skin cancer. It is undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), bladder cancer and metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer. The concept of using anti-CTLA4 antibodies to treat cancer was first developed by James P. Allison while he was director of the Cancer Research Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Clinical development of anti-CTLA4 was initiated by Medarex, which was later acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb. For his work in developing<unk> , Allison was awarded the Lasker Award in 2015. Allison later was the co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Ipilimumab
Pembrolizumab
Daratumumab
Axitinib
Teprotumumab
Siltuximab
Blinatumomab
Ofatumumab