# Sapna P. Patel

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

## TL;DR

Led SWOG S1801, the trial that showed giving pembrolizumab before surgery, not just after, improves outcomes in melanoma.

## Summary

Sapna Patel was principal investigator of SWOG S1801, which showed that splitting pembrolizumab into neoadjuvant and adjuvant doses improves event-free survival compared with the same total drug given only after surgery in stage III-IV melanoma, a proof of the neoadjuvant principle with the same agent. She chairs the SWOG melanoma committee and leads uveal melanoma trials.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: melanoma; neoadjuvant; swog
- Role: Professor of Medicine and Director of Melanoma Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Cancer Center
- Specialisms: Melanoma; Neoadjuvant immunotherapy; Uveal melanoma; Cooperative-group trials

## Sources

- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Patel%20SP%5BAuthor%5D%20melanoma%20neoadjuvant%20pembrolizumab

## Connected records

- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Stage III melanoma (after surgery)](https://onco.cc/cancers/stage-iii-melanoma/), [Uveal melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/uveal-melanoma/)
- technologies: [Immune checkpoint inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/)
- targets: [PD-1](https://onco.cc/targets/pd1/)
- drugs: [Pembrolizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/pembrolizumab/)
- institutions: [University of Colorado Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/colorado-cancer-center/)
- trials: [SWOG S1801](https://onco.cc/trials/swog-s1801/)
- journals: [Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/nature-reviews-clinical-oncology/)

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