Japanese scientist Tasuku Honjo received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine at a ceremony Monday in Stockholm for a discovery that paved the way for a new approach to cancer treatment.

After accepting the medal and diploma from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf at the ceremony, which he attended with his wife Shigeko, the 76-year-old Kyoto native said he hopes the immunotherapeutic treatment will become available for people around the world. He wore traditional Japanese clothing to remember the roots of his research.

The distinguished professor and deputy director general of the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study shared the prize with James Allison, a professor at the University of Texas, who studied a known protein that works as a brake on the immune system.

"We sincerely hope this treatment will reach far and wide so that everybody on our planet can benefit from this evolutionary gift for healthy life," Honjo said in his speech at the lavish Nobel Banquet attended by some 1,300 people following the award ceremony.

(Honjo makes a speech at a banquet after the awards ceremony)

Honjo is the 27th Japan-born winner of a Nobel Prize. Yoshinori Osumi was the previous Japanese recipient of the physiology or medicine prize, in 2016.

The discovery of the protein called PD-1 by Honjo and his team in 1992 has led to the development of Opdivo, a drug that triggers the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"Jim and I have experienced many occasions that have made us feel well rewarded, such as meeting cancer patients who say their lives were saved by our therapies," Honjo said in his speech.

But he added "the development of our discovery is just beginning, as currently only 20 to 30 percent of patients respond to immunotherapy."

"Cancer has been the No. 1 cause of death during the last half-century. The trend is getting even worse as the average lifespan increases," Honjo said. "We encourage many more scientists to join us in our efforts to keep improving cancer immunotherapy," he said.

Kyoto University has said Honjo intends to donate his prize money to a foundation supporting young researchers. The Japanese and American scientists shared the 9 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) award.

Before the ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall, Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynecologist, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi human rights activist from Iraq who survived being forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State militant group, were conferred this year's Nobel Peace Prize in the Norwegian capital Oslo for their work to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

[Getty/Kyodo]

Banquet menu

(Lightly baked Arctic char with crayfish broth, dill seed-infused onion, lightly smoked trout roe, crispy potato and watercress foam)

(Baked celeriac with chanterelle cream and mushroom butter, swede with bay leaf cream, and slow-roasted beef chuck with a bone marrow crust, smoked veal jus and potato and leek terrine)

(Medley of apples, with caramelised Frida apples from Österlen, apple sorbet, vanilla custard, caramel sauce and oat crumbs)