A practical guide to self-directed mRNA cancer immunotherapy—because you shouldn't have to surrender ownership of your own biology to access cutting-edge treatment.
In May 2023, BioNTech published data showing that personalized mRNA cancer vaccines kept 75% of responding pancreatic cancer patients cancer-free for over three years. The T-cells induced by the vaccine were still detectable four years later.
This is remarkable. Pancreatic cancer has an 88% mortality rate. And here was evidence that a vaccine—built from a patient's own tumor mutations—could potentially provide long-term protection.
But here's what the headlines didn't tell you:
Those patients owned nothing.
Their tumor tissue, their unique genetic mutations, the neoantigen sequences that made their vaccine work—all of it became the intellectual property of pharmaceutical companies the moment it left their bodies.
The vaccine that might save their lives was built from their own biology. And they had zero ownership stake in it.
This article is for patients who want a different path.
Not a path that requires pharmaceutical companies to change. Not a path that requires regulatory overhaul. But a parallel path—one that exists today—for patients who choose to exercise sovereignty over their own biology.
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Your cancer is caused by mutations—changes in your DNA that make cells grow uncontrollably. But those same mutations are also a weakness.
When a cell has a mutation, it produces slightly altered proteins. Fragments of these proteins get displayed on the cell surface like little flags saying "I'm different." Your immune system can learn to recognize these flags—called neoantigens—and kill the cells displaying them.
The problem? Your immune system hasn't learned to see them yet. That's where the vaccine comes in.
An mRNA neoantigen vaccine works like this:
The vaccine doesn't contain cancer cells. It doesn't contain chemicals that directly kill cancer. It contains instructions that teach your immune system to do the killing.
And here's the key insight: your neoantigens are yours. They come from your tumor. They're encoded in your DNA. No pharmaceutical company discovered them—they're a product of your own biology.
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What I'm about to describe is not theoretical. Every component exists. The technology is proven. The regulatory pathways are established. The only thing missing is awareness that this path is available to you.
Let me walk you through each step.
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This is the most critical step, and it must happen before or during your surgery.
When surgeons remove a tumor, standard protocol is to send it to pathology, where it's processed, analyzed, and eventually discarded or stored by the hospital. If you want to retain your tissue, you need to make arrangements in advance.
What to do:
Why this matters: Formalin-fixed tissue (FFPE) can be used for DNA sequencing, but RNA quality degrades significantly. For the best neoantigen predictions, you want fresh-frozen tissue that preserves both DNA and RNA.
Critical Warning: Some hospitals may resist releasing tissue, citing policies or liability concerns. You have a legal right to your own tissue in most jurisdictions, but you may need to be persistent. Consider consulting a patient advocate or healthcare attorney if you encounter resistance.
You need two types of sequencing:
Several commercial labs offer this service. You don't need to go through a hospital or oncologist—you can order it directly as a patient in many cases.
What you'll receive:
Cost: $3,000–8,000
Time: 2–4 weeks
This is where bioinformatics comes in. You need to analyze your mutations to find the ones most likely to trigger an immune response.
The analysis involves:
Tools used: pVACtools, NetMHCpan, MHCflurry—all freely available, but require bioinformatics expertise to run.
Options:
Output: A file containing your neoantigen peptide sequences—typically 15–25 amino acids each, with the mutation in the center.
Now you need to convert your neoantigen peptide sequences into an mRNA construct that can be manufactured.
An mRNA vaccine isn't just the coding sequence—it includes:
The coding sequence must be codon-optimized for human expression—using the DNA codons that human cells translate most efficiently.
Who does this: Most CDMOs (contract manufacturing organizations) offer design services as part of their manufacturing package. You provide the peptide sequences; they design the mRNA construct.
This is where it gets real. You need a GMP-certified facility to synthesize your mRNA and formulate it into lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for delivery.
What the CDMO does:
Finding a CDMO: Search for "mRNA manufacturing services" or "mRNA CDMO." Several companies offer small-batch personalized mRNA synthesis. You don't need to manufacture millions of doses—you need enough for one patient.
Cost: $20,000–50,000 for a personalized batch
Time: 4–8 weeks
Key Point: You're not asking the CDMO to develop a drug. You're asking them to synthesize a specific mRNA sequence that you provide. This is a manufacturing service, not a drug development project. Many CDMOs offer this to researchers, biotech startups, and increasingly to individual patients.
This may be the most challenging step. You need a licensed physician willing to administer an investigational treatment.
Regulatory pathways:
What to look for:
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Arrange for tumor tissue retention. Get it in writing.
Surgery. Tumor tissue sent to sequencing lab.
Sequencing completed. Results delivered.
Neoantigen prediction analysis. Top candidates selected.
mRNA construct designed. Order placed with CDMO.
mRNA manufacturing and quality control.
Vaccine delivered. First injection administered.
Typical dosing is 4–8 injections over several months, but your physician will determine the schedule based on your specific situation.
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Let me be direct: this isn't cheap. But compare it to the cost of a clinical trial you can't access, or the cost of doing nothing.
| Component | Cost Range |
|---|---|
| Tumor tissue processing & storage | $500–2,000 |
| Whole exome sequencing (tumor + normal) | $2,000–5,000 |
| RNA sequencing | $1,000–3,000 |
| Neoantigen prediction analysis | $2,000–5,000 |
| mRNA design & manufacturing | $20,000–50,000 |
| Physician administration (varies widely) | $5,000–15,000 |
| Total Estimated Range | $30,500–80,000 |
Costs are dropping rapidly. mRNA manufacturing that cost $100,000+ five years ago is now available for under $30,000. As the technology matures, expect prices to continue falling.
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Here's a problem no one talks about:
When you take an FDA-approved drug and have a side effect, you can report it to VAERS or MedWatch. That data becomes part of a centralized safety monitoring system. Future patients benefit from your experience.
But for patient-directed therapies? There's no monitoring system.
If 100 patients make their own mRNA vaccines and 10 have adverse events, how would anyone know? How would the next patient learn from that? Without some form of collective reporting, every patient starts from zero.
Blockchain creates a voluntary, decentralized "FDA" where patients report outcomes—so the next patient doesn't start from zero.
What gets recorded on-chain:
This creates real-world evidence that benefits every patient who comes after you.
1. Decentralized Pharmacovigilance
Your outcome data—good or bad—contributes to a collective safety and efficacy database. Pattern recognition emerges: which HLA + mutation combinations work? Which CDMOs produce better results? Which dosing schedules are optimal? This is crowd-sourced clinical intelligence.
2. Provenance Proof
If questioned later by doctors, insurers, or regulators, you can prove YOUR tumor → YOUR sequences → YOUR vaccine. Immutable chain of custody. No one can claim you injected something unknown—every step is cryptographically verified.
3. Prior Art Protection
Timestamped proof that YOU identified these neoantigens first. If a pharmaceutical company later tries to patent something derived from your biology, you have blockchain evidence of prior discovery. Your mutations, your IP.
4. Research Attribution
If you share your response data ("I had KRAS G12D + HLA-A*02:01, the vaccine worked"), you get permanent attribution. Your contribution to science is recorded forever. Future researchers who build on your data can trace it back to you.
5. Revocable Consent
If you share your data with researchers, your consent is encoded on-chain. You can revoke access later—GDPR-style. Unlike traditional consent forms that disappear into filing cabinets, blockchain consent is auditable, enforceable, and under your control.
6. Economic Rights
If your neoantigen data contributes to a future therapy—if researchers use your sequences to develop something that helps other patients—smart contracts can ensure compensation flows back to you. Your biology, your economic participation.
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At GenoBank, we've developed Biosample NFTs (BioNFTs)—blockchain-based tokens that represent your biological data with full chain of custody.
When you register your vaccine journey as a BioNFT:
You're not just protecting yourself—you're contributing to a decentralized clinical trial that operates outside traditional pharmaceutical gatekeeping. Every patient who registers their outcome makes the system smarter for the next patient.
The FDA monitors approved drugs. For patient-directed therapies, we monitor ourselves—together, transparently, on-chain.
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I can't promise that. No one can. What I can tell you is that the science is real. BioNTech's Phase 1 data showed 50% of patients developed vaccine-induced T-cell responses, and those responders had dramatically better outcomes. But response rates vary. Some patients don't respond. Cancer is complex.
This is not a guaranteed cure. It's an option that may improve your odds.
mRNA vaccines have an extensive safety record from COVID-19. Billions of doses have been administered worldwide. The technology platform is well-understood. The main risks are injection site reactions and temporary flu-like symptoms as your immune system responds.
Your specific neoantigen sequences are unique, but the delivery mechanism is proven.
Most oncologists operate within the clinical trial system. They recommend approved treatments or enroll patients in trials. Patient-directed manufacturing falls outside this framework—it's not that they're hiding it from you, it's that it's not part of their standard toolkit.
This is changing. More physicians are becoming aware of patient-directed options. But for now, you may need to educate your medical team.
Yes. You have the right to your own tissue. You have the right to have it analyzed. CDMOs can legally manufacture mRNA for research and individual patient use. The main regulatory gray area is administration—which is why finding the right physician is important.
Right to Try laws specifically exist to give terminally ill patients access to investigational treatments. While the specifics vary by jurisdiction, the principle that patients should have options beyond standard care is well-established.
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I wrote this guide because I believe in patient sovereignty.
The current system treats you as raw material. Your tumor goes in one end, and a pharmaceutical company's intellectual property comes out the other. You might benefit from treatment—if you're lucky enough to be selected for a trial—but you'll never own any of it.
That's not the only way.
The technology exists today for you to direct your own treatment. To retain ownership of your biological data. To work with physicians and manufacturers who see you as a client, not a subject.
Is it harder than enrolling in a trial? Yes. Is it more expensive than waiting for FDA approval? Yes. But for patients who want control—who refuse to be passive recipients of whatever the system decides to give them—this path exists.
Your cancer is driven by mutations. But those same mutations make it targetable. Those mutations belong to you. The neoantigens belong to you. And if you choose, the vaccine can belong to you too.
This isn't about rejecting mainstream medicine. It's about expanding your options. About having agency over your own biology. About refusing to accept that patients must be passive participants in their own treatment.
The path is here. The technology works. The choice is yours.
Want to learn more?
Visit genobank.io or email [email protected]
This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals before making treatment decisions.
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Daniel Uribe is CEO of GenoBank.io, building infrastructure for patient-owned biological data. He believes patients should own what comes from their own bodies.