mRNA-based personalized neoantigen cancer vaccines

Frontiers in Immunology is a contributor to World Economic Forum's Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2026 report . Co-written by our Specialty Chief Editors Peter Brossart and Rita Carsetti, it tackles mRNA-based personalized neoantigen cancer vaccines, one of the most promising frontiers in onco-immunology today. This Research Topic aims to consolidate current knowledge across the full translational immunology spectrum, from neoantigen discovery and vaccine engineering to mechanistic immunology and clinical implementation, and to identify the key bottlenecks that must be overcome before mRNA personalized neoantigen vaccines become a standard pillar of cancer care.Recent clinical evidence has been striking. Phase 2 data from mRNA-4157/V940 in combination with pembrolizumab demonstrated a significant reduction in recurrence or death in high-risk resected melanoma, prompting Phase 3 evaluation, and parallel programs are advancing in non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, glioblastoma, and hematological malignancies. Yet major scientific and translational questions remain unresolved: which predicted neoantigens are truly immunogenic, how should mRNA design and lipid nanoparticle formulation be optimized, when and how should vaccines be combined with checkpoint inhibitors or cellular therapies, and how can bespoke manufacturing be scaled equitably and rapidly enough to meet clinical demand. We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Methods, Perspectives, and Clinical Trial articles addressing, but not limited to:--Neoantigen prediction, HLA binding, immunogenicity validation, and clonal versus subclonal targeting--mRNA sequence optimization, nucleotide modification, and lipid nanoparticle delivery--CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T cell priming, TCR repertoire dynamics, and correlates of protection--Combination strategies with checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cells, bispecific antibodies, or radiotherapy--Mechanisms of resistance and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment--Early-phase clinical trial design, biomarker development, and patient selection--Manufacturing, scalability, cold-chain logistics, cost, and global equity--Extension to underexplored tumor types, including pediatric and rare cancersPlease note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by robust and relevant validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this Research Topic.Please also note that Prof. Peter Brossart is Specialty Chief Editor of the section "cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy" at Frontiers in Immunology; has a consultancy role for Astra-Zeneca, BMS, MSD, BeiGene, Gilead; receives research Funding from BMS; receives honoraria from Gilead, MSD, BMS, Astra-Zeneca. Topic editors: Peter Brossart, Tianhao Duan, Lorenzo Franceschini, Rita Carsetti Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82687/mrna-based-personalized-neoantigen-cancer-vaccines