{"entity":{"id":"plasmamatch","kind":"trial","name":"plasmaMATCH","aka":["plasmaMATCH trial","UK plasmaMATCH"],"tldr":"plasmaMATCH showed that a blood test can find the mutations that steer treatment in advanced breast cancer as reliably as a tumour biopsy, and used it to send women straight to drugs matching rare mutations. It found real activity for neratinib in HER2-mutant and capivasertib in AKT1-mutant disease.","summary":"plasmaMATCH was led by Nicholas Turner at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden and opened in December 2016 at hospitals across the United Kingdom. More than a thousand women with advanced breast cancer had circulating tumour DNA sequenced (with Guardant360 and digital PCR); those with a qualifying mutation entered one of four treatment cohorts: A, ESR1 mutations, extended-dose fulvestrant; B, HER2 mutations, neratinib with or without fulvestrant; C, AKT1 mutations in oestrogen receptor-positive disease, capivasertib with fulvestrant; D, AKT1 mutations in receptor-negative disease or PTEN loss, capivasertib alone. A fifth cohort, E, later gave olaparib with the ATR inhibitor ceralasertib to triple-negative disease.\n\nThe Lancet Oncology report in 2020 established the diagnostic claim: circulating tumour DNA testing agreed with tissue sequencing in the great majority of patients, with sensitivity around 93 percent, so a blood test could stand in for a biopsy to select therapy. On the therapeutic side, neratinib in HER2-mutant cancer and capivasertib with fulvestrant in AKT1-mutant receptor-positive cancer met their pre-set response thresholds (about a quarter and a fifth of patients responding), capivasertib alone in cohort D showed less activity, and extended-dose fulvestrant for ESR1 mutations did not meet its bar. Cohort E, in Clinical Cancer Research in 2023, found limited activity for olaparib with ceralasertib in unselected triple-negative disease. A 2026 analysis showed that the amount of circulating tumour DNA predicted survival across the cohorts.\n\nplasmaMATCH changed United Kingdom practice by validating plasma-first genotyping in advanced breast cancer, contributed the largest neratinib series in HER2-mutant breast cancer alongside SUMMIT, and supplied part of the rationale for capivasertib's development in AKT pathway-altered disease that led to its approval with fulvestrant in 2023. It also modelled a national umbrella run from a blood test, a design DETERMINE and TARGET National inherited.","status":"completed","asOf":"2026-09-17","links":[{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03182634","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03182634"},{"label":"Turner et al., Lancet Oncology 2020: circulating tumour DNA analysis to direct therapy in advanced breast cancer (plasmaMATCH)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30444-7"},{"label":"Olaparib and ceralasertib in triple-negative advanced breast cancer, cohort E of plasmaMATCH, Clinical Cancer Research 2023","url":"https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-23-1696"},{"label":"Prognostic and predictive impact of ctDNA levels in patients enrolled on the plasmaMATCH trial, Clinical Cancer Research 2026","url":"https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-0651"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["breast-cancer","breast-hr-positive","tnbc"],"sections":[],"technologies":["liquid-biopsy","pi3k-akt-mtor-inhibitors","parp-inhibitor","her2-tyrosine-kinase-inhibitors"],"targets":[],"drugs":["fulvestrant","neratinib","capivasertib","olaparib"],"companies":["guardant-health"],"institutions":["icr-london","royal-marsden","cruk"],"pathways":[],"terms":["master-protocol","basket-umbrella-platform","ctdna"],"trials":[],"people":["nicholas-turner"],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-ring-clin-cancer-res","paper-browne-clin-cancer-res","paper-plasmamatch-lancet-oncol-2020"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"nct":"NCT03182634","phase":"2","setting":"Advanced breast cancer across the United Kingdom: circulating tumour DNA testing of a blood sample assigns patients with ESR1, HER2 or AKT1 mutations or PTEN loss to matched treatment cohorts, with a later cohort for triple-negative disease","sponsor":"The Institute of Cancer Research, funded by Cancer Research UK","result":"Circulating tumour DNA matched tissue genotyping with about 93 percent sensitivity; neratinib (HER2 mutations) and capivasertib plus fulvestrant (AKT1 mutations, receptor-positive) met their response thresholds; extended-dose fulvestrant for ESR1 mutations did not.","started":"2016-12-15","startedType":"actual","yearReported":2020,"enrolledBasis":"registry","outcomes":[{"endpoint":"Confirmed objective response rate by cohort","primary":true,"unit":"%","arms":[{"name":"Cohort A: ESR1 mutation, extended-dose fulvestrant","n":74,"value":8,"note":"6 of 74; 13 of 78 were required. Cohorts B-D required 3 of 16"},{"name":"Cohort B: HER2 mutation, neratinib (with fulvestrant if ER-positive)","n":20,"value":25},{"name":"Cohort C: AKT1 mutation, ER-positive, capivasertib + fulvestrant","n":18,"value":22},{"name":"Cohort D: AKT1 mutation ER-negative or PTEN mutation, capivasertib","n":19,"value":11}],"source":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30444-7"},{"endpoint":"Sensitivity of digital PCR ctDNA testing for mutations found in tissue sequencing","unit":"%","arms":[{"name":"All patients with tissue comparison","value":93,"note":"95% CI 83-98; 98% (87-100) with contemporaneous biopsies; ctDNA results available for 1034 of 1051 registered"}],"source":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30444-7"}]},"route":"/trials/plasmamatch/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"breast-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Breast cancer (all types)","route":"/cancers/breast-cancer/"},{"id":"breast-hr-positive","kind":"cancer","name":"HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer","route":"/cancers/breast-hr-positive/"},{"id":"tnbc","kind":"cancer","name":"Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)","route":"/cancers/tnbc/"}],"technology":[{"id":"her2-tyrosine-kinase-inhibitors","kind":"technology","name":"HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors","route":"/technologies/her2-tyrosine-kinase-inhibitors/"},{"id":"liquid-biopsy","kind":"technology","name":"Liquid biopsy (ctDNA)","route":"/technologies/liquid-biopsy/"},{"id":"parp-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"PARP inhibitors","route":"/technologies/parp-inhibitor/"},{"id":"pi3k-akt-mtor-inhibitors","kind":"technology","name":"PI3K, AKT and mTOR inhibitors","route":"/technologies/pi3k-akt-mtor-inhibitors/"}],"drug":[{"id":"capivasertib","kind":"drug","name":"Capivasertib","route":"/drugs/capivasertib/"},{"id":"fulvestrant","kind":"drug","name":"Fulvestrant","route":"/drugs/fulvestrant/"},{"id":"neratinib","kind":"drug","name":"Neratinib","route":"/drugs/neratinib/"},{"id":"olaparib","kind":"drug","name":"Olaparib","route":"/drugs/olaparib/"}],"company":[{"id":"guardant-health","kind":"company","name":"Guardant Health","route":"/companies/guardant-health/"}],"institution":[{"id":"cruk","kind":"institution","name":"Cancer Research UK","route":"/institutions/cruk/"},{"id":"icr-london","kind":"institution","name":"The Institute of Cancer Research","route":"/institutions/icr-london/"},{"id":"royal-marsden","kind":"institution","name":"The Royal Marsden","route":"/institutions/royal-marsden/"}],"term":[{"id":"basket-umbrella-platform","kind":"term","name":"Basket, umbrella, and platform trials","route":"/terms/basket-umbrella-platform/"},{"id":"ctdna","kind":"term","name":"Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA)","route":"/terms/ctdna/"},{"id":"master-protocol","kind":"term","name":"Master protocol (platform, basket and umbrella trials)","route":"/terms/master-protocol/"}],"person":[{"id":"nicholas-turner","kind":"person","name":"Nicholas Turner","route":"/people/nicholas-turner/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-plasmamatch-lancet-oncol-2020","kind":"paper","name":"Circulating tumour DNA analysis to direct therapy in advanced breast cancer (plasmaMATCH): a multicentre, multicohort, phase 2a, platform trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-plasmamatch-lancet-oncol-2020/"},{"id":"paper-ring-clin-cancer-res","kind":"paper","name":"Olaparib and Ceralasertib (AZD6738) in Patients with Triple-Negative Advanced Breast Cancer: Results from Cohort E of the plasmaMATCH Trial (CRUK/15/010)","route":"/key-papers/paper-ring-clin-cancer-res/"},{"id":"paper-browne-clin-cancer-res","kind":"paper","name":"The Prognostic and Predictive Impact of ctDNA Levels in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer Enrolled on the plasmaMATCH Trial","route":"/key-papers/paper-browne-clin-cancer-res/"}]}}