National Cancer Institute–Children’s Oncology Group Pediatric MATCH Trial (revised January 2025)
The Trial
NCI-COG Pediatric MATCH (Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice), also known as Pediatric MATCH, was an international pediatric precision medicine cancer treatment trial that explores whether targeted therapies can be effective for children, adolescents and young adults with solid tumors that harbor specific gene mutations. Pediatric MATCH was a phase 2 trial that investigates different study drugs, each targeting a defined set of gene mutations, in order to match patients with therapies aimed at the molecular abnormalities in his or her tumor.
Patient Eligibility
Pediatric MATCH was a trial for children, adolescents and young adults ages 1 to 21 who have solid tumors, including non-Hodgkin lymphomas, brain tumors, and histiocytoses, that no longer respond to standard treatment or have recurred after treatment.
Patients had a tumor that was a candidate for genetic testing and had completed genetic testing which indicates the tumor contains certain genetic changes that were targeted in the study
Trial Availability and Patient Identification
As of January 2025, enrollment in Pediatric MATCH has completed. The study was available through about 200 COG sites in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. To find the COG member institutions, visit the “COG Institution locations” page at: https://www.childrensoncologygroup.org/apps/instmap/default.aspx.
The trial had two enrollment steps. Each patient initially enrolled for a screening study, in which a genetic sequencing report was submitted for review by the Pediatric MATCH Molecular Review Committee to confirm that the report included genetic abnormalities that could be targeted by one or more of the drugs being studied. If there was a genetic abnormality identified in the tumor, and a drug in Pediatric MATCH that targets that abnormality, the patient could then enroll in the available treatment arm if he or she met the eligibility criteria.
Treatment Overview
Patients with a matched drug received experimental treatment for as long as their tumors were stable in size or getting smaller.
Treatment Arms
At this time, all treatment arms have completed accrual goals and are closed to further patient enrollment.
Goals of Pediatric MATCH
In addition to getting further information about the proportion of pediatric patients whose tumors have genetic alterations that can be targeted by select drugs, the primary endpoint for each matched drug is the overall response rate, or the proportion of patients whose tumors shrink by a predefined amount over a specific time period. A number of other laboratory studies are included that will help increase the scientific understanding of a range of relapsed cancers that occur in children and adolescents.
As it was anticipated that only a small number of patients will have a tumor with an identified genetic abnormality that can be targeted, for those patients found not to have a matched drug within the suite of studies in Pediatric MATCH, the patients may be able to enroll in other studies found through the COG Developmental Therapeutics Program, Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy, and pharmaceutical trials located through
Trial Collaborators
The study was developed and will be led jointly by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), one of the five NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) groups.
COG led the trial, a role that involved coordinating the genetic sequencing review and supporting trial sites with training, laboratory services, trial assignments, biostatistical support, data management, auditing, quality control, and public awareness.
Learn More
Trained information specialists at the NCI’s Contact Center (formerly known as the Cancer Information Service) are available at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) to answer questions about Pediatric MATCH in English and Spanish or visit cancer.gov and contact NCI's LiveHelp online service.
Additional Resources
For more information on NCI-COG Pediatric MATCH, go to www.cancer.gov/pediatricmatch.
For a current list of NCI-COG Pediatric MATCH publications, visit the PubMed link at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=parsons+and+%22pediatric+match%22
