By Diagnostics World Staff
June 7, 2017 | Caris Life Sciences today announced a collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the NCI-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH or EAY131) precision medicine trial, which is being implemented by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN). Under the terms of the collaboration, Caris will notify physicians from more than 1,100 clinical sites participating in NCI-MATCH when the Caris Molecular Intelligence assay, the company's Comprehensive Genomic Profiling Plus (CGP+) molecular testing service, identifies gene abnormalities that could make a patient eligible for one of several NCI-MATCH treatments. Caris will provide clinical trial outreach services, called MI Trials, to inform the treating oncologist that their patient may be eligible for one of several NCI-MATCH treatments. Additionally, Caris will participate in a concordance analysis to evaluate next-generation sequencing results for identified trial patients with ECOG-ACRIN and NCI laboratories.
This month, the NCI-MATCH trial is expected to reach its goal to sequence the tumors of 6,000 patients, nearly two years early due to rapid patient enrollment. However, an important discovery in the patients tested to date shows that every tumor gene abnormality being studied is less common than expected in this study population, ranging from 3.47 percent to zero. This finding is shedding new light on the fact that for several of the treatment arms to reach their 35-patient goal, the trial needs to cast a wider net and look at tens of thousands of patients.
Caris Molecular Intelligence, covered recently in Diagnostics World, which has performed more than 117,000 clinical cases to date, helps physicians and researchers more effectively evaluate therapy options and clinical trial opportunities to enable the delivery of precision medicine. When a treating oncologist at a participating NCI-MATCH site orders tumor profiling to guide clinical care for their patients, Caris will look for trial matches for these patients. Upon the identification of a qualifying genetic alteration abnormality (such as mutations, amplifications or translocations), Caris will include NCI-MATCH trial information in the patient's broader report as a potential treatment option.
In addition, MI Trials medical staff will inform the treating physician about the NCI-MATCH trial and, when determined appropriate, will facilitate communication between the treating physician and NCI-MATCH study investigators.
NCI-MATCH (EAY131 or NCT02465060) is a phase II precision medicine trial that seeks to determine the effectiveness of treatment that is directed by genomic profiling in patients with solid tumors, lymphomas, or myelomas that have progressed following all standard treatments expected to prolong survival or rare cancer types for which there is no standard treatment. Such discoveries could be eligible to move on to larger, more definitive trials. With multiple treatment arms addressing a wide range of tumor types and targeted treatments, NCI-MATCH is one of the largest precision medicine cancer trials to date.
Caris will also participate with ECOG-ACRIN and NCI in a concordance evaluation of the next-generation sequencing results for identified patients. The sequencing results generated from Caris will be compared to the results from the NCI-MATCH trial's laboratories. Consistent, accurate data detecting and reporting genomic alterations across various academic and commercial laboratories has important implications for patient care as the demand for genomic information continues to increase.