# Patrick M. Forde
**Patrick M. Forde** is an Irish medical oncologist and clinical trialist who leads perioperative immunotherapy research in lung cancer and mesothelioma. He is Professor of Immuno-Oncology and became Chair of Immuno-Oncology at the Trinity St. James's Cancer Institute, Trinity College Dublin, a Consultant Medical Oncologist at St James's Hospital Dublin, and an Adjunct Professor of Oncology at [Johns Hopkins University](https://www.edgepedia.org/johns-hopkins-university) in Baltimore.[1](https://ascopost.com/issues/september-25-2025/overall-survival-benefit-shown-for-neoadjuvant-nivolumab-plus-chemotherapy-in-non-small-cell-lung-cancer/) • [2](https://www.tcd.ie/medicine/surgery/staff/surgery/fordep1/) According to the 2018 *New England Journal of Medicine* study, he was first author of the study that introduced neoadjuvant (given before surgery, to shrink tumors) PD-1 blockade for resectable lung cancer, and he led the phase 3 CheckMate 816 trial, which made neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy an international standard of care for stage II–III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6223617/) • [2](https://www.tcd.ie/medicine/surgery/staff/surgery/fordep1/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Field | Thoracic medical oncology; cancer immunotherapy |
| Current positions (2026) | Prendergast Professor (Chair) of Immuno-Oncology, Trinity St. James's Cancer Institute, Trinity College Dublin; Adjunct Professor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins[1](https://ascopost.com/issues/september-25-2025/overall-survival-benefit-shown-for-neoadjuvant-nivolumab-plus-chemotherapy-in-non-small-cell-lung-cancer/) |
| Signature work | "Neoadjuvant PD-1 Blockade in Resectable Lung Cancer", *New England Journal of Medicine*, 2018, first author[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6223617/) |
| CheckMate 816 (2025) | 5-year overall survival 65.4% with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy vs 55.0% with chemotherapy alone; hazard ratio for death 0.72[4](https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa2502931) |
| Mesothelioma trial | Co-senior author of the first perioperative immunotherapy trial in resectable diffuse pleural mesothelioma, *Nature Medicine*, 2025[5](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03958-3) |
| Training | Medicine and oncology in Ireland (Co. Clare origin, Dublin medical school); fellowship at Johns Hopkins[6](https://e3.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1085798) • [7](https://www.gtsc.org/files/2022/P__Forde_Bio.pdf) |
## Training and career
Forde is originally from [County Clare](https://www.edgepedia.org/county-clare) and attended medical school in Dublin, completing seven years of medical and oncology training in Ireland before moving to [Johns Hopkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/johns-hopkins) for a fellowship.[6](https://e3.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1085798) According to his biography for the Global Thoracic Oncology Symposium, at Johns Hopkins he rose to Professor of Oncology, became Co-Director of the Division of Upper Aerodigestive Malignancies in the Department of Oncology, and directed the multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Clinical Research Program; his clinical practice covers lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other thoracic cancers.[7](https://www.gtsc.org/files/2022/P__Forde_Bio.pdf) • [6](https://e3.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1085798) In 2024 he returned to Ireland, joining the Trinity St. James's Cancer Institute, the country's first internationally accredited comprehensive cancer center, as Prendergast Professor of Immuno-Oncology, while keeping an adjunct appointment at Johns Hopkins.[8](https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/2025/immunotherapy-before-surgery-is-a-potential-new-treatment-for-rare-cancer/) • [1](https://ascopost.com/issues/september-25-2025/overall-survival-benefit-shown-for-neoadjuvant-nivolumab-plus-chemotherapy-in-non-small-cell-lung-cancer/)
## Representative work
The 2018 pilot trial that established the field was a 21-patient, investigator-initiated study of two doses of neoadjuvant nivolumab before surgery, the first reported study of neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy for early-stage lung cancer.[9](https://doi.org/10.25419/rcsi.25887289.v1) Published in the *New England Journal of Medicine* on April 16, 2018 with Forde as first author, from the Bloomberg–Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, it reported that 45% of resected patients had a major pathologic response, and that tumor mutational burden appeared to predict response.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6223617/) • [9](https://doi.org/10.25419/rcsi.25887289.v1) A contemporary press account of the trial reported that nearly half of the 20 operated patients had little or no remaining cancer after two doses.[6](https://e3.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1085798)
## CheckMate 816: from event-free survival to overall survival
CheckMate 816 (NCT02998528), a randomized, open-label phase 3 trial sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb with Ono Pharmaceutical as collaborator, began in March 2017 and enrolled about 300 patients with resectable stage IB–IIIA NSCLC worldwide.[10](https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02998528) • [6](https://e3.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1085798) Forde was the trial's principal investigator.[2](https://www.tcd.ie/medicine/surgery/staff/surgery/fordep1/) In the 2022 primary analysis, pathological complete response was 24.0% with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy versus 2.2% with chemotherapy alone (odds ratio 13.94), and median event-free survival was 31.6 versus 20.8 months (hazard ratio 0.63).[11](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9844511/) Grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events were similar between arms (33.5% vs 36.9%), and a higher share of the immunotherapy arm completed surgery (83.2% vs 75.4%).[11](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9844511/) In 2022 this led to the first approval of neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy for surgically operable lung cancer.[7](https://www.gtsc.org/files/2022/P__Forde_Bio.pdf)
The 2025 final analysis showed an overall survival benefit: 5-year overall survival was 65.4% with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy versus 55.0% with chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio for death 0.72).[4](https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa2502931) • [12](https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.17_suppl.lba8000) Median event-free survival at that update was 59.6 versus 21.1 months, with 5-year event-free survival of 49% versus 34%.[12](https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.17_suppl.lba8000) A concurrently randomized arm testing nivolumab plus ipilimumab without chemotherapy reported median event-free survival of about 44 versus about 17 months and 3-year overall survival of roughly 58% versus 49%, with pathological complete response in about 16% versus 4% and lower grade 3–4 toxicity (about 11% vs 29%).[13](https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO-24-02239) CheckMate 816 is described as the only neoadjuvant-only immunotherapy phase 3 trial to show a statistically and clinically significant 5-year overall survival benefit in a resectable solid tumor.[12](https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.17_suppl.lba8000)
## Comparison with other perioperative trials
Competing phase 3 trials added adjuvant therapy after surgery. KEYNOTE-671 randomized about 800 patients to perioperative pembrolizumab or placebo; at the 2025 five-year update, event-free survival was 49.9% versus 26.5% and overall survival 64.6% versus 53.6%.[14](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01756-2/abstract) • [15](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/42628840) AEGEAN tested perioperative durvalumab, improving event-free survival (hazard ratio 0.69) with a numerical overall survival benefit (hazard ratio 0.89, 95% CI 0.70–1.14) as of May 2024.[16](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/42664473) Surgical outcomes differ across trials: [R0 resection](https://www.edgepedia.org/r0-resection) was 83.2% in CheckMate 816, 92.0% in KEYNOTE-671, and 94.7% in AEGEAN.[17](https://jtd.amegroups.org/article/view/116336/html)
## Translational research
Forde's trials pair immunotherapy with molecular readouts. The 2018 study demonstrated for the first time that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) dynamics during neoadjuvant immunotherapy are a potential predictor of pathologic response in NSCLC.[9](https://doi.org/10.25419/rcsi.25887289.v1) In CheckMate 816, presurgical ctDNA clearance occurred in about 45% versus 30% of baseline ctDNA-positive patients across the two arms.[12](https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.17_suppl.lba8000) In the final analysis, 5-year overall survival was 95.3% among patients with a pathological complete response versus 55.7% without, and 75.0% among patients with presurgery ctDNA clearance versus 52.6% without.[4](https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa2502931) The mesothelioma trial was the first to pair perioperative checkpoint blockade with ultra-sensitive liquid biopsy analyses; detectable ctDNA at cycle 3 and before surgery associated with shorter progression-free survival (P=0.027 and P=0.0059), most strongly with quantitative ctDNA change (P=1.8×10⁻⁶).[18](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2025/09/first-ever-clinical-trial-demonstrates-safety-molecular-readout-and-promise-of-pre-and-post-surgery-immunotherapy-combination-for-patients-with-operable-mesothelioma) • [5](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03958-3)
## Mesothelioma and current trials
Forde led the first clinical trial of combination immunotherapy before surgery for mesothelioma, a cancer affecting about 50 patients in Ireland and about 30,000 globally each year, with low rates of serious side effects.[5](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03958-3) • [8](https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/2025/immunotherapy-before-surgery-is-a-potential-new-treatment-for-rare-cancer/) Median progression-free survival was 9.6 months with nivolumab alone and 19.8 months with the combination; median overall survival was 19.3 and 28.6 months.[5](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03958-3) He also leads NeoCOAST-2, a global platform trial of novel immunotherapy combinations before lung cancer surgery.[2](https://www.tcd.ie/medicine/surgery/staff/surgery/fordep1/)
## References
1. [Overall Survival Benefit Shown for Neoadjuvant Nivolumab Plus Chemotherapy in NSCLC (ASCO Post, 2025)](https://ascopost.com/issues/september-25-2025/overall-survival-benefit-shown-for-neoadjuvant-nivolumab-plus-chemotherapy-in-non-small-cell-lung-cancer/)
2. [Professor Patrick Forde, Trinity College Dublin faculty page](https://www.tcd.ie/medicine/surgery/staff/surgery/fordep1/)
3. [Neoadjuvant PD-1 Blockade in Resectable Lung Cancer (NEJM, 2018)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6223617/)
4. [Overall Survival with Neoadjuvant Nivolumab plus Chemotherapy in Lung Cancer (NEJM, 2025)](https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa2502931)
5. [Perioperative nivolumab or nivolumab plus ipilimumab in resectable diffuse pleural mesothelioma (Nature Medicine, 2025)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03958-3)
6. [Immunotherapy before surgery improves lung cancer survival in global clinical trial led by Irish cancer specialist (EurekAlert, 2025)](https://e3.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1085798)
7. [Dr. Patrick Forde biography (Global Thoracic Oncology Symposium, 2022)](https://www.gtsc.org/files/2022/P__Forde_Bio.pdf)
8. [Immunotherapy before surgery is a potential new treatment for rare cancer (Trinity College Dublin, 2025)](https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/2025/immunotherapy-before-surgery-is-a-potential-new-treatment-for-rare-cancer/)
9. [Neoadjuvant immunotherapy for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (doctoral thesis, RCSI)](https://doi.org/10.25419/rcsi.25887289.v1)
10. [CheckMate 816 trial record, NCT02998528 (ClinicalTrials.gov)](https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02998528)
11. [Neoadjuvant Nivolumab plus Chemotherapy in Resectable Lung Cancer (NEJM, 2022)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9844511/)
12. [Overall survival with neoadjuvant nivolumab + chemotherapy in CheckMate 816 (ASCO 2025, LBA8000)](https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.17_suppl.lba8000)
13. [Neoadjuvant Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab Versus Chemotherapy in Resectable Lung Cancer (JCO, 2025)](https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO-24-02239)
14. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01756-2/abstract
15. [Five-Year Outcomes of Perioperative Pembrolizumab (KEYNOTE-671 5-year update)](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/42628840)
16. [Perioperative Durvalumab for Resectable NSCLC: Updated Outcomes From AEGEAN](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/42664473)
17. [Efficacy without compromising resection: surgical outcomes from AEGEAN (Journal of Thoracic Disease)](https://jtd.amegroups.org/article/view/116336/html)
18. [First-Ever Clinical Trial of Pre- and Post-Surgery Immunotherapy for Operable Mesothelioma (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2025)](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2025/09/first-ever-clinical-trial-demonstrates-safety-molecular-readout-and-promise-of-pre-and-post-surgery-immunotherapy-combination-for-patients-with-operable-mesothelioma)
19. [Perioperative vs neoadjuvant nivolumab: patient-level analysis of CheckMate 77T vs CheckMate 816 (2024)](https://medcomms.project.mimsit.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/10/PL02.08-ITC-816-vs-77t-Patrick-Forde-Slides.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in cancer biology and oncology research › Tumor immunology and immunotherapy › Clinical immunotherapy oncologists*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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