{"entity":{"id":"sapna-patel","kind":"person","name":"Sapna P. Patel","aka":[],"tldr":"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.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Patel%20SP%5BAuthor%5D%20melanoma%20neoadjuvant%20pembrolizumab"}],"tags":["melanoma","neoadjuvant","swog"],"related":[],"cancers":["melanoma","uveal-melanoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":["checkpoint-inhibitor"],"targets":["pd1"],"drugs":["pembrolizumab"],"companies":[],"institutions":["colorado-cancer-center"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["swog-s1801"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":["nature-reviews-clinical-oncology"],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Professor of Medicine and Director of Melanoma Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Cancer Center","institutionId":"colorado-cancer-center","specialisms":["Melanoma","Neoadjuvant immunotherapy","Uveal melanoma","Cooperative-group trials"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Patel%20SP%5BAuthor%5D%20melanoma%20neoadjuvant%20pembrolizumab"}],"papers":[{"title":"Neoadjuvant-adjuvant or adjuvant-only pembrolizumab in advanced melanoma (SWOG S1801)","journal":"NEJM","year":2023,"doi":"10.1056/NEJMoa2211437"},{"title":"Neoadjuvant immunotherapy for melanoma: the path forward","journal":"Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology","year":2023}]},"route":"/people/sapna-patel/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"},{"id":"stage-iii-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Stage III melanoma (after surgery)","route":"/cancers/stage-iii-melanoma/"},{"id":"uveal-melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Uveal melanoma","route":"/cancers/uveal-melanoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"}],"target":[{"id":"pd1","kind":"target","name":"PD-1","route":"/targets/pd1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"pembrolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Pembrolizumab","route":"/drugs/pembrolizumab/"}],"institution":[{"id":"colorado-cancer-center","kind":"institution","name":"University of Colorado Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/colorado-cancer-center/"}],"trial":[{"id":"swog-s1801","kind":"trial","name":"SWOG S1801","route":"/trials/swog-s1801/"}],"journal":[{"id":"nature-reviews-clinical-oncology","kind":"journal","name":"Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology","route":"/journals/nature-reviews-clinical-oncology/"}]}}