This pilot clinical trial studies comprehensive gene sequencing in guiding treatment recommendations in patients with metastatic or recurrent solid tumors. Studying samples of blood and tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may improve the ability to plan treatment.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess the feasibility and logistics associated with a clinical trial utilizing the Foundation Medicine Incorporated (FMI) test in an academic therapeutic setting.

II. To determine the proportion of patients who will receive a cancer-related therapy based on the results provided by the FMI test.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To explore and report estimates of progression free survival (PFS) of the regimen administered after the FMI test results are revealed and the PFS of the most recent regimen administered before the FMI test results were received.

II. To determine the feasibility of performing Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) on metastatic tumor tissue.

III. To determine the feasibility of administering cancer-related drugs that are proposed by the results of NGS that are not Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for a patient's specific cancer diagnosis.

IV. To collect and report the molecular alterations discovered by NGS of advanced breast and colorectal cancer.

V. To determine in an exploratory manner the concordance of the genomic alterations detected by the FMI test in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to the genomic alterations detected by FMI test in tumor tissues collected from the same patient.

OUTLINE:

PART I: Within 10 weeks of beginning a treatment regimen, tumor tissue samples and CTCs from patients are collected for NGS and FMI testing, respectively. Patients remain on current line of therapy until a change in treatment is warranted. The physician's treatment recommendation is documented prior to the release of the FMI results.

PART II: Physicians are furnished with FMI test results when patients become eligible for a change in therapy and new treatment recommendations are documented. Treatment is dependent on preferences of the physician, patient, and/or results of the FMI test.

After completion of study, patients are followed up for at least 18 months.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Are able to understand and provide written informed consent (most recent patient informed consent form) prior to initiation of any study-specific procedures
• Patients are diagnosed with recurrent or metastatic a solid tumor cancer; the first patients to be enrolled will have a diagnosis of breast cancer (Cohort 1) or colorectal cancer (Cohort 2)
• Patients may enter this study at any line of therapy
• Patients must have a tumor sample available for NGS testing
• Patients are within 10 weeks of starting their current line of therapy and enrolled before their 1st computed tomography (CT) scan
• Have an expected survival of >= 3 months, as estimated by the treating oncologist
• Have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0-2

Exclusion Criteria:

• Are pregnant or nursing women
• Are unable to comply with requirements of the study
• Have a serious uncontrolled intercurrent medical or psychiatric illness, including serious infection

Patients diagnosed with recurrent or metastatic a solid tumor cancer.