Trials May Close Gap in Genomic Cancer Therapy (TAPUR/NCI-MATCH)

Clinical Oncology News

 Chicago—Two large-scale cancer trials with uncommon designs may substantially advance the paradigm of personalized medicine. The therapies being tested in both trials were selected for their activity on a specific molecular target, independent of tumor site and histology, and both trials are seeking the participation of community-based practitioners to help yield real-world information about safety and efficacy.
The studies are independent but address a similar goal. One study, which is the first-ever clinical trial sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), aims to capture data when clinicians select a commercially available targeted therapy to treat an advanced cancer with the appropriate genomic variant. This off-label practice is becoming increasingly common but is not well studied, according to Richard L. Schilsky, MD, ASCO’s chief medical officer. The ASCO study provides a formal way to capture data from this practice.
The details of the ASCO-sponsored study, called TAPUR (Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry), and the second trial, which is being sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is called NCI-MATCH (Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice), were outlined during a press conference at the 2015 ASCO annual meeting......