Strata Oncology, Inc. today announced it is participating as a CLIA-certified/accredited laboratory for the precision medicine cancer trial, NCI-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH or EAY131). The objective of this ongoing phase II trial, co-led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), is to match genetic abnormalities of tumors with suitable targeted therapy, regardless of cancer type. Through the collaboration, Strata Oncology is designated to identify potential candidates from participating NCI-MATCH clinical sites in its Precision Oncology Network, for enrollment onto NCI-MATCH treatment arms. Tumor testing by a designated lab is the only pathway for patients to enroll into the trial.

“The size and scope of NCI-MATCH provided inspiration for Strata’s highly-scaled, systematic approach to precision medicine clinical research,” said Dan Rhodes, PhD, CEO of Strata Oncology. “Universal access to tumor profiling paired with robust trial-matching is a core feature of Strata’s precision medicine platform, so we believe our health system partners are uniquely positioned to make a significant contribution to the success of this important study.” 

StrataNGS is utilized in routine clinical care across the Strata Precision Oncology Network, a network of 11 leading health systems committed to advancing research and patient care through a clinical-research driven model for precision oncology. The test is available at no cost to 100,000 patients with advanced cancer through the Strata Trial, an observational protocol providing tumor molecular profiling and matching to a portfolio of clinical trials. Network members deploy a streamlined, data-driven precision medicine workflow that enables efficient identification of eligible patients, universal access to StrataNGS, and proactive enrollment on precision therapy trials.

“Tumor profiling and genomic testing are becoming common in daily practice for oncologists to help guide clinical care for cancer patients,” said NCI-MATCH study co-chair James V. Tricoli, PhD, Chief, Diagnostic Biomarkers and Technology Branch, Cancer Diagnosis Program, Division of
Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the NCI. “We require qualifying laboratories to proactively identify potentially eligible patients for the NCI-MATCH trial.” 

Through the collaboration with NCI and ECOG-ACRIN, Strata Oncology will leverage its Network to expand the search for patients eligible to enroll onto the various NCI-MATCH treatment arms. 

“NCI-MATCH is a discovery trial whose very nature—identifying and exploring knowledge gaps in precision oncology, and advancing new hypotheses—means studying small subsets of patients,”said NCI-MATCH study co-chair and ECOG-ACRIN group co-chair Peter J. O’Dwyer, MD, Professor of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Presbyterian Medical Center of Philadelphia, and Director, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania. “We are qualifying additional laboratories so we can cast a wider net for patients with the biomarkers of interest.”

To learn more about NCI-MATCH, visit http://www.ecog-acrin.org/nci-match-eay131.