Laboratory of Personalized Genomic Medicine Selected to Participate in the NCI-MATCH Precision Medicine Trial

Columbia University’s Personalized Genomic Medicine Laboratory (PGM) in the Department of Pathology & Cell Biology is proud to announce that it has been selected to participate as a CLIA-certified laboratory for the NCI-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH) precision medicine trial. NCI-MATCH was co-developed by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is being led by ECOG-ACRIN through its Biomarker Sciences Program. NCI-MATCH, also known as EAY131, is the largest trial to date that seeks to determine whether therapies targeting specific gene mutations will be effective regardless of cancer type. Tumor gene testing by a designated lab is the only pathway for patients to enroll in the trial.

Under the terms of this new collaboration, when Columbia Combined Cancer Panel (CCCP) testing is ordered as part of a patient’s standard clinical care, and it identifies a qualifying genetic alteration abnormality (such as a mutation or amplification), PGM will notify the treating physician of the possible qualifying genetic alteration.  If the treating physician and the patient are interested in participating in the NCI-MATCH study, NCI and ECOG-ACRIN trial leaders will centrally review PGM’s trial match. If they verify the referral, they will formally assign the patient to the treatment arm.  To read a summary of the process, visit http://ecog-acrin.org/nci-match-eay131-designated-labs.  Patients with advanced solid tumors, lymphomas, or myeloma may be eligible for MATCH, once they have progressed on standard treatment for their cancer or if they have a rare cancer for which there is no standard treatment.  There are several treatment arms that are open to patients at any given time, for current trial availability please visit http://ecog-acrin.org/trials/nci-match-eay131.