Science        
20 December 2013 vol 342, issue 6165, pages 1405-1544
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

Breakthrough of the Year
Cancer Immunotherapy
Jennifer Couzin-Frankel
Science’s editors have chosen cancer immunotherapy as Breakthrough of the Year for 2013, a strategy that harnesses the body’s immune system to combat tumors. It’s an attractive idea, and researchers have struggled for decades to make it work. Now, many oncologists say those efforts are paying off, as two different techniques show signs of helping some patients. One involves antibodies that release a brake on T cells, giving them the power to tackle tumors. Another involves genetically modifying an individual’s T cells outside the body to make them better able to target cancer, and then reinfusing them so they can do just that. Experts stress that these techniques have been tested in only small trials, and they don’t always work. But the results have raised hope that immunotherapy may give doctors new options for treatment in the future.
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2013 Runners-Up
In Vaccine Design, Looks Do Matter
In work that Science ranked as a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year, researchers used structural biology—the study of the molecules of life—to design the key ingredient of a vaccine against a dangerous childhood disease. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections hospitalize millions of infants every year. This year, scientists crystallized an antibody the body uses to combat RSV; then they analyzed its structure and used the information to design an immunogen that may lead to a vaccine. Other researchers hope a similar approach will yield new HIV drug
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