About Dr. Oliver Sartor
Dr. Sartor and His Collaborative Approach to Prostate Cancer Research…
Dr. Sartor is a world-renowned prostate cancer expert and one of the few medical oncologists who focused entirely on prostate cancer. He is currently the Director of the Transformational Prostate Cancer Research Center at East Jefferson Hospital in New Orleans. He returned from Mayo Clinic to New Orleans in June, 2025.
Dr. Sartor work combines basic, translational, and clinical prostate cancer research and emphasizes state-of-the-art treatment for prostate cancer patients. Combining innovative patient care and research has been a priority throughout his entire career.
Dr. Sartor has a strong focus on multi-disciplinary efforts that emphasize novel approaches toward cancer treatment. He has personally helped to obtain multiple drug approvals in advanced prostate cancer including Quadramet, Jevtana, Xofigo, and Pluvicto by helping to lead, or co-lead, pivotal trials leading to FDA approval. Over the past 36 years, he has collaborated with fellow clinical oncologists and basic science researchers across the globe and has given hundreds of invited lectures and presentations on advanced prostate cancer at meetings in 34 countries. He has published over 600 peer-reviewed medical and serves on a variety of advisory committees for both major pharmaceuticals and startup biotechnology firms that focus on prostate cancer.
Dr. Sartor’s Research Focus…
Dr. Sartor is involved in a wide variety of clinical trials covering both translational issues and advanced treatments for prostate cancer. In some, he has served in global leadership positions – as either Principal Investigator, co-Principal Investigator, or chair of the Data Monitoring Committee.
The VISION trial, an international randomized phase III clinical trial for selected patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), is one of these. He was co-principal investigator on the trial sponsored by Novartis, the lead author on the New England Journal of Medicine publication that reported on the trial. The implications of this research are large, and the approach is now being pursued in a variety of cancers.
The VISION trial demonstrated that 177Lu-PSMA-617 (now known as Pluvicto) — an engineered radioactive molecule that binds to a highly expressed cell surface protein (PSMA) on prostate cancer cells — extends survival in those with advanced difficult to treat refractory prostate cancer. Pluvicto was FDA approved in very advanced refractory patients in 2022 and a second approval followed in 2025 for those whose cancer had not been previously treated with chemotherapy. Patients initially diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer are soon expected to have access to Pluvicto given the FDA is now ( July 2026) reviewing data from a trial that he helped to co-lead in that subset of patients. Current global Pluvicto annual sales are approximately $3 billion per year.
This approach, using molecularly targeted radiation, is not being adopted using different isotopes and different cell surface protein markers. Trials with these approaches are now underway using isotopes such as actinium-225, lead-212, and terbium-161, as well as novel targets such as ACP3 and B7H3.
More innovation in prostate cancer is coming. Dr. Sartor is also on the steering committee for two large trials using targeted immunotherapy, a promising novel approach, and he currently sits on numerous advisory boards for companies pursuing innovations in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. One of the highlights for him this past year was a private meeting with the CEO of Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), the largest healthcare company in the world (by revenue), to advise JNJ on their prostate cancer assets and strategy. Previous private meetings with the Novartis CEO helped to prioritize radiopharmaceutical research at that company. Driving innovation takes effort at many levels.