
Foundation Medicine Joins NCI’s ComboMATCH Initiative to Explore New Combination Therapies for Cancer
10/27/23 (written by: Scott Gleason) Foundation Medicine has announced its active participation in the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Combination Therapy Platform Trial with Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (ComboMATCH) initiative. This new effort aims to investigate and assess the effectiveness of new therapy combinations for select groups of adults and children with cancer. As one of nearly 40 participating Designated Laboratories, Foundation Medicine’s FoundationOne®CDx commercial testing results will help oncologists at participating ComboMATCH clinical sites determine the eligibility of their patients for ComboMATCH treatment trials.
ComboMATCH seeks to identify and test promising treatment combinations with strong pre-clinical or clinical evidence suggesting they could be more effective than single agents alone. The initiative’s ultimate goal is to improve patient outcomes and advance these treatments to larger, more definitive clinical trials beyond ComboMATCH. By evaluating therapy combinations against the current standard of care, the initiative aims to determine if these novel approaches provide better results for patients.
Foundation Medicine has been a key contributor to the ComboMATCH initiative since its enrollment opened in June 2023, with many patients screened and enrolled onto treatment trials through their collaboration. This builds on their involvement in the NCI’s MATCH study from 2017 to 2023, which explored the benefits of genomically-guided treatments targeting specific tumor alterations regardless of cancer type. Foundation Medicine was the most frequently used lab to enroll patients and support the NCI’s efforts to evaluate a broad range of eligible patients for treatment in NCI-MATCH.
Dr. Mia Levy, Chief Medical Officer at Foundation Medicine, emphasized the significance of the ComboMATCH initiative for precision oncology care. She stressed the importance of NCI’s leadership and resources in identifying more promising treatments for patients, paving the way for advancements in cancer treatment. Foundation Medicine’s ongoing collaboration with NCI reflects their commitment to understanding molecular insights and building more targeted treatment options, particularly for advanced and complex cancer cases.