The NCI-MATCH trial and precision medicine in gynecologic cancers

The Precision Medicine Initiative is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) driven interdisciplinary collaborative effort to test the feasibility of trials incorporating genomic profiling when choosing patient therapies. The goal of the initiative is to generate the scientific evidence needed to move the concept of precision medicine, or targeted therapy, into clinical practice. The rapid development and widespread availability of next generation sequencing provides access to information regarding an individual's tumor at various times during the course of their disease. Translating the aberrations specific to a patient's tumor into personalized treatment is the concept behind “basket” trials, and thus categorize patients' cancers based on the sequencing of the tumor, rather than the organ of origin. The NCI Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) trial [NCT02465060] is a multi-site, collaborative effort between the NCI and several pharmaceutical companies that is beginning to clarify the significance of molecular alterations in tumors. This trial was designed to assign targeted treatment based on molecular alterations identified from a tumor biopsy obtained after study enrollment and determine the efficacy of this treatment. This review article will briefly discuss known genomic aberrations in gynecologic cancers, and then provide an overview of the NCI-MATCH trial with an update on accrual and recent interim analysis. We will also review current FDA-approved precision therapies for gynecologic malignancies, such as poly (ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors.