The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a proof-of-concept precision medicine clinical trial to test new treatment combinations targeting specific genetic changes in the cancer cells of people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The trial, funded by NIH's National Cancer Institute (NCI), aims to accelerate the discovery of more tailored treatments for these aggressive cancers of the blood and bone marrow. AML and MDS are a heterogeneous group of cancers that can progress very quickly.
Treatment advances depend in part on the ability to rapidly identify which subtype of cancer each patient has so that treatments can be tested for their specific cancer. The goal of myeloMATCH is to test combinations of drugs to treat the disease in a highly targeted way and to be able to start treatment quickly after diagnosis." Richard F.
Little, M.D., of NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis.
Dr. Little is the NCI coordinator for the trial, known as the Myeloid Malignancies Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (myeloMATCH) Initially, people enrolled in the trial with newly diagnosed AML or MDS will undergo rapid genetic testing of their tumor samples. Based on the molecular characteristics of their tumors, they will be matched to a substudy testing a treatment appropriate for the specific genetic changes and characteristics associated with their disease, if one is available, or to standard treatment if an appropriate substudy is not .
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