One shot before surgery: could early immunotherapy stop melanoma in its tracks?

This study is testing whether giving one dose of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab six weeks before surgery can help the immune system fight high-risk melanoma more effectively. About 49 adults with melanoma that hasn't spread on scans will receive the drug, then have their lymph nodes checked during surgery. Afterward, some will continue standard immunotherapy for a year, and all are monitored for five years to see if the early treatment reduces the chance of the cancer coming back.