Meet Medical Oncologist Sandra D’Angelo

Medical oncologist Sandra D’Angelo, who specializes in caring for patients with rare cancers such as melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma, talks about the team approach and the importance of empowering patients.
Video Details
 Sandra P. D'Angelo, MD

Sandra P. D'Angelo, MD

Sarcoma Medical Oncologist & Cellular Therapist

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Soft tissue sarcomas
  • Merkel cell carcinoma

My Specialties

  • Immunotherapy
  • Clinical trials
Dr. D'Angelo's Office Information
Languages: English & Italian
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Get to Know Me

I am a medical oncologist specializing in the care of soft tissue sarcomas and bone sarcomas, as well as Merkel cell carcinoma. 

I work very closely with our multidisciplinary team of medical oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, nurses, and patient support advocates to provide the best care and treatment for patients with these rare diseases. Our highly specialized team recognizes and appreciates the unique challenges that confront our patients, and we are all committed to addressing their needs. I partner with my patients and empower them while ensuring that they always get optimal care.

In my research, I am developing innovative ways to use immunotherapy to treat these cancers. I have designed and conducted numerous clinical trials of investigational therapies (drugs in development) that use the body’s immune system to attack multiple types of sarcoma. These include trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors, which “release the brakes” on the immune system, allowing it to fight tumors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been shown to be effective in the treatment of specific sarcomas, such as undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, angiosarcoma, and dedifferentiated liposarcoma. I have also led clinical trials studying T cells engineered to recognize a specific molecule on synovial sarcomas and myloid round cell liposarcomas.

In my translational research (research done in the laboratory to develop new ways to diagnose and treat disease), I am investigating biomarkers predictive of benefit from systemic immunotherapy in patients with sarcoma. At MSK, we are at the forefront of sarcoma immunotherapy research and have already contributed to the field in meaningful ways while improving the lives of our patients.

What I Do at MSK

I'm a sarcoma medical oncologist, which is a cancer doctor who specializes in sarcoma. This includes soft tissue sarcomas (such as Ewing sarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma) and benign (not cancer) growths that are like sarcoma.

A cellular therapy specialist is a doctor with special training in using cell therapies to treat health conditions such as cancer. Therapies can include chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.

  • Associate Attending Physician
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Soft tissue sarcomas
  • Merkel cell carcinoma

My Specialties

  • Immunotherapy
  • Clinical trials
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine - New York University
  • Internal Medicine - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Chief Residency (Internal Medicine) - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Fellowships

  • Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Internal Medicine
  • Medical Oncology

Awards and Honors

  • R01 CA259169-01A1, FDA (2022)
  • P50 CA217694 Career Enhancement Award (2020)
  • Sarcoma Foundation Alliance (2018)
  • Research Grant Recipient, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Society (2015)
  • Career Development Award, Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation (2015)
  • Alliance Scholar Award, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Foundation (2014)
  • Young Investigator Award, Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation (2011)

Insurance Information

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If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

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Contact and Location

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion
160 East 53rd Street New York NY 10022
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Cellular Therapy Service doctors

See all Sarcoma Medical Oncology Service doctors

Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

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Research and Publications

D’Angelo SP, Melchiori L, Merchant MS, Bernstein D, Glod J, Kaplan R, Grupp S, Tap WD, Chagin K, Binder GK, Basu S, Lowther DE, Wang R, Bath N, Tipping A, Betts G, Ramachandran I, Navenot JM, Zhang H, Wells DK, Van Winkle E, Kari G, Trivedi T, Holdich T, Pandite L, Amado R, Mackall CL. Antitumor Activity Associated with Prolonged Persistence of Adoptively Transferred NY-ESO-1 c259T Cells in Synovial Sarcoma. Cancer Discov. 2018 Aug;8(8):944-957. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-1417. Epub 2018 Jun 11. PMID: 29891538; PMCID: PMC8092079.

D’Angelo SP, Mahoney MR, Van Tine BA, Atkins J, Milhem MM, Jahagirdar BN, Antonescu CR, Horvath E, Tap WD, Schwartz GK, Streicher H. Nivolumab with or without ipilimumab treatment for metastatic sarcoma (Alliance A091401): two open-label, non-comparative, randomised, phase 2 trials. Lancet Oncol. 2018 Mar;19(3):416-426. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30006-8. Epub 2018 Jan 19. PMID: 29370992; PMCID: PMC6126546.

D’Angelo SP, Richards AL, Conley AP, Woo HJ, Dickson MA, Gounder M, Kelly C, Keohan ML, Movva S, Thornton K, Rosenbaum E, Chi P, Nacev B, Chan JE, Slotkin EK, Kiesler H, Adamson T, Ling L, Rao P, Patel S, Livingston JA, Singer S, Agaram NP, Antonescu CR, Koff A, Erinjeri JP, Hwang S, Qin LX, Donoghue MTA, Tap WD. Pilot study of bempegaldesleukin in combination with nivolumab in patients with metastatic sarcoma. Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 16;13(1):3477. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30874-8. PMID: 35710741; PMCID: PMC9203519.

D’Angelo SP, Lebbé C, Mortier L, Brohl AS, Fazio N, Grob JJ, Prinzi N, Hanna GJ, Hassel JC, Kiecker F, Georges S, Ellers-Lenz B, Shah P, Güzel G, Nghiem P. First-line avelumab in a cohort of 116 patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (JAVELIN Merkel 200): primary and biomarker analyses of a phase II study. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 Jul;9(7):e002646. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2021-002646. PMID: 34301810; PMCID: PMC8311489.

Rosenbaum E, Antonescu CR, Smith S, Bradic M, Kashani D, Richards AL, Donoghue M, Kelly CM, Nacev B, Chan JE, Chi P, Dickson MA, Keohan ML, Gounder MM, Movva S, Avutu V, Thornton K, Zehir A, Bowman AS, Singer S, Tap W, D’Angelo S. Clinical, genomic, and transcriptomic correlates of response to immune checkpoint blockade-based therapy in a cohort of patients with angiosarcoma treated at a single center. J Immunother Cancer. 2022 Apr;10(4):e004149. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2021-004149. PMID: 35365586; PMCID: PMC8977792.

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. D'Angelo’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Sandra P. D'Angelo discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Adaptimmune
    Professional Services and Activities
  • GI Innovation Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Incyte
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Medendi
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Piper Sandler & Co.
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Replimune, Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2024 through disclosure submission in spring 2025). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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