# plasmaMATCH

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/plasmamatch/  
OnCo record `plasmamatch` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

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.

The 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.

plasmaMATCH 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.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: completed
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Also known as: plasmaMATCH trial; UK plasmaMATCH
- Registry id: 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.

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03182634: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03182634
- Turner et al., Lancet Oncology 2020: circulating tumour DNA analysis to direct therapy in advanced breast cancer (plasmaMATCH): https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30444-7
- Olaparib and ceralasertib in triple-negative advanced breast cancer, cohort E of plasmaMATCH, Clinical Cancer Research 2023: https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-23-1696
- Prognostic and predictive impact of ctDNA levels in patients enrolled on the plasmaMATCH trial, Clinical Cancer Research 2026: https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-0651

## Connected records

- cancers: [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- technologies: [HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/her2-tyrosine-kinase-inhibitors/), [Liquid biopsy (ctDNA)](https://onco.cc/technologies/liquid-biopsy/), [PARP inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/parp-inhibitor/), [PI3K, AKT and mTOR inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/pi3k-akt-mtor-inhibitors/)
- drugs: [Capivasertib](https://onco.cc/drugs/capivasertib/), [Fulvestrant](https://onco.cc/drugs/fulvestrant/), [Neratinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/neratinib/), [Olaparib](https://onco.cc/drugs/olaparib/)
- companies: [Guardant Health](https://onco.cc/companies/guardant-health/)
- institutions: [Cancer Research UK](https://onco.cc/institutions/cruk/), [The Institute of Cancer Research](https://onco.cc/institutions/icr-london/), [The Royal Marsden](https://onco.cc/institutions/royal-marsden/)
- terms: [Basket, umbrella, and platform trials](https://onco.cc/terms/basket-umbrella-platform/), [Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA)](https://onco.cc/terms/ctdna/), [Master protocol (platform, basket and umbrella trials)](https://onco.cc/terms/master-protocol/)
- people: [Nicholas Turner](https://onco.cc/people/nicholas-turner/)

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