Caris Life Sciences Right-In-Time Clinical Trial Solution Expands Access to Precision Oncology Trials for Historically Underserved Cancer Patients

Published: 2026-04-15 08:32:11 ET CAI

Published on 04/15/2026 at 08:32 am EDT

Comprehensive molecular profiling paired with biomarker-driven trial matching provides cancer patients with a complete pathway from diagnosis to treatment across more than 600 locations nationwide

IRVING, Texas, April 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Caris Life Sciences®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAI), a leading, patient-centric, next-generation AI TechBio company and precision medicine pioneer, today highlighted the growing urgency of closing the geographic gap in cancer clinical trial access and the role its Right-In-Time (RIT) clinical trial solution plays in bringing biomarker-driven trials to community oncology practices nationwide.

Research published in JCO Oncology Practice found that 70% of U.S. counties had no active cancer treatment trials, leaving nearly one in five Americans ages 55 and older without a local pathway to investigational therapies. Nearly 85% of U.S. cancer patients receive care at community-based practices, yet most clinical trials remain concentrated at large academic medical centers. A meta-analysis in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that 55% of cancer patients offered a trial agree to participate, suggesting the core barrier is access and infrastructure, not patient willingness.

The Caris RIT clinical trial solution addresses this challenge by deploying trials directly to community oncology sites. Drawing on decades of oncology clinical trial experience, the system is designed to move from molecular profiling to patient enrollment in approximately two weeks and in as few as five days. Patients remain under the care of their treating oncologist, preserving continuity of care and eliminating the burden of long-distance travel to academic centers.

The network of community and regional oncology sites now spans more than 600 locations, 2,200 investigators across the United States and Puerto Rico, with more than 71,000 patients identified for potential trial participation.

"Comprehensive molecular profiling gives oncologists a complete picture of each patient's disease, which is essential for identifying the most effective treatment options," said David Spetzler, MS, MBA, PhD, President of Caris Life Sciences. "When that profiling is paired with a system that matches patients to relevant clinical trials, we can significantly expand the range of therapeutic possibilities available to every patient."

The gap between available science and clinical adoption illustrates why matching molecular profiles to clinical trials at the point of care has become an urgent priority in oncology. A Caris-led study of more than 295,000 real-world cancer patients, published in Nature Communications, examined the FDA's eight tissue-agnostic cancer approvals and found that for one of the most promising targets, NTRK fusion genes, roughly a third to nearly half of eligible patients with advanced disease never receive the approved therapy. The RIT clinical trial solution is designed to address this challenge of oncologists' limited familiarity with rare mutations and prescribing targeted therapies they encounter so infrequently.

The RIT solution integrates comprehensive molecular profiling, automated trial matching, and streamlined site activation into a single workflow. Every patient whose tumor specimen is sent to Caris receives profiling through Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) of DNA, Whole Transcriptome Sequencing (WTS) of RNA and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis of proteins, covering more than 23,000 genes.

A proprietary trial-matching platform then cross-references each patient's molecular results against the historical composition of the trial portfolio, comprising more than 30 clinical trials and more than 80 biopharmaceutical partners. Clinical Trial Navigators (CTNs), who are registered oncology nurses, notify treating physicians within 24 to 48 hours of identifying a match. CTNs conduct preliminary eligibility assessments and continue to monitor patients until the trial becomes a viable treatment option. Caris manages contracting, budgeting, site qualification and institutional review board (IRB) documentation, freeing physicians to focus on patient care.

The RIT program draws on one of the largest clinico-genomic databases in oncology. As of December 31, 2025, Caris surpassed 1,016,000 total molecular tumor profiles and 740,000 matched profiles linking molecular data with clinical outcomes. The company has published findings from this research base in more than 1,050 peer-reviewed publications, often in collaboration with members of the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance, which includes cancer centers, academic and research centers.

"Every patient diagnosed with cancer deserves a treatment plan informed by the molecular profile of their disease," Spetzler said. "We believe the field is approaching a point where comprehensive profiling will become standard practice for all patients and programs like Right-In-Time are designed to accelerate that transition by connecting molecular insights directly to clinical trial opportunities at the community level."

By embedding trial matching into the molecular profiling workflow and deploying trials at community sites, the RIT clinical trial solution aims to ensure that patients' ZIP codes do not determine whether they can access a potentially life-changing investigational therapy.

About Caris Life Sciences Caris Life Sciences® (Caris) is a leading, patient-centric, next-generation AI TechBio company and precision medicine pioneer actively developing and commercializing innovative solutions to transform healthcare. Through comprehensive molecular profiling (Whole Genome, Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing), advanced AI and machine learning, Caris has created the large-scale, multimodal clinico-genomic database and computing capability needed to analyze and further unravel the molecular complexity of disease. This convergence of next-generation sequencing, AI and machine learning technologies and high-performance computing provides a differentiated platform for developing the latest generation of advanced precision medicine diagnostic solutions for early detection, diagnosis, monitoring, therapy selection and drug development.

Caris was founded with a vision to realize the potential of precision medicine to improve the human condition. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris has offices in Phoenix, New York, Cambridge (MA), Tokyo, Japan and Basel, Switzerland. Caris or its distributor partners provide services in the U.S. and other international markets.

Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our business, solutions, plans, objectives, goals, industry trends, financial outlook and guidance. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "may," "will," "should," "would," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "potential," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or similar expressions.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to us, we cannot guarantee that the future results, discoveries, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release include, among other things: developments in the precision medicine industry; our future financial performance, results of operations or other operational results or metrics; development, analytical and clinical validation, timing and performance of future solutions by us and our competitors; commercial market acceptance for our solutions, including acceptance of preventive as well as diagnostic testing paradigms, and our ability to meet resulting demand; the rapidly evolving competitive environment in which we operate; third-party payer reimbursement and coverage decisions related to our solutions; risks related to data management, storage, and processing capabilities and our ability to integrate and deploy artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics technologies; our ability to protect and enhance our intellectual property; regulatory requirements, decisions or approvals (including the timing and conditions thereof) related to our solutions; reliance on third-party suppliers; risks related to data security, patient privacy, and compliance with healthcare data protection regulations as well as potential cybersecurity threats to our data platforms; our compliance with laws and regulations; the outcome of government investigations and litigation; risks related to our indebtedness; and our ability to hire and retain key personnel as well as risks, uncertainties, and other factors described in the section titled "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 3, 2026, and in our other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect changes in events, circumstances or our beliefs after the date of this press release, except as required by law.

Caris Life Sciences Media:Corporate Communications [email protected] 214.294.5606

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/caris-life-sciences-right-in-time-clinical-trial-solution-expands-access-to-precision-oncology-trials-for-historically-underserved-cancer-patients-302742657.html

SOURCE Caris Life Sciences