National Cancer Institute–Children’s Oncology Group Pediatric MATCH Trial (revised January 2024)

The Trial

NCI-COG Pediatric MATCH (Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice), also known as Pediatric MATCH, is 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 is 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 is 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 must have a tumor that is a candidate for genetic testing and have completed genetic testing which indicates the tumor contains certain genetic changes that are targeted in the study.

Trial Availability and Patient Identification

Enrollment in Pediatric MATCH will be 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. Sites will access the trial under the protocol identification APEC1621 via the NCI Cancer Trials Support Unit (CTSU).

The trial has two enrollment steps. Each patient will initially enroll for a screening study, in which a genetic sequencing report will be submitted for review by the Pediatric MATCH Molecular Review Committee to confirm that the report includes genetic abnormalities that could be targeted by one or more of the drugs being studied. If there is a genetic abnormality identified in the tumor and a drug in Pediatric MATCH that targets that abnormality, the patient can then enroll in the available treatment arm if he or she meets the eligibility criteria.

Treatment Overview

Patients with a matched drug will be able to receive experimental treatment for as long as their tumors are stable in size or getting smaller.

Treatment Arms

At this time, most treatment arms have completed accrual goals and are closed to further patient enrollment. One treatment arm remains open and at least 20 patients will be enrolled in this arm.

The remaining treatment arm open to accrual is:

APEC1621F: NCI-COG Pediatric MATCH (Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice) - Phase 2 subprotocol of ensartinib in patients with tumors harboring ALK or ROS1 genomic alterations

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 is 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 clinicaltrials.gov.

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 is leading the trial, a role that involves 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

To learn more about Pediatric MATCH, patients and their families should start by speaking with their doctors or healthcare team.

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.