John Sarantopoulos, M.D.

Dr. John Sarantopoulos is a clinical research investigator and medical oncologist, with a full-time faculty appointment as assistant professor of medicine in the division of hematology-oncology at UT Health San Antonio. His clinical interests and expertise are in early antineoplastic drug development and evaluation for human solid tumors including genitourinary malignancies of renal, prostate, bladder and melanoma. He is involved with the Cancer Therapy & Research Center’s early therapeutics phase I program, and is a member of the experimental developmental therapeutics program.

Dr. Sarantopoulos completed an advance drug development fellowship and is presently focusing on early phase I/II trials. He has been a co-principal investigator and principal investigator in over 54, phase I solid tumor studies, including first in human studies or first in class compounds, food effect or bioequivalence studies, drug interaction studies, QTc effect studies, and organ dysfunction studies, including renal and hepatic impairment. Studies have included National Cancer Institute cancer therapy evaluation program studies and the NCI organ dysfunction working group and cooperative group trials including the Southwest Oncology Group, where he is a member of the early therapeutics and genitourinary committees, as well as industry-sponsored and cancer center investigator-initiated trials.

In addition, he has been a sub investigator in over 139 trials in this area at the CTRC over the last several years. Dr. Sarantopoulos’ education, clinical and research experiences place him in a select group of investigators that can complete complex early phase trials that are important to the development of new treatments for patients with cancer.

Publications

Curtis, K. K., Sarantopoulos, J., Northfelt, D. W., Weiss, G. J., Barnhart, K. M., Whisnant, J. K., Leuschner, C., Alila, H., Borad, M. J. & Ramanathan, R. K. Novel LHRH-receptor-targeted cytolytic peptide, EP-100: first-in-human phase I study in patients with advanced LHRH-receptor-expressing solid tumors. Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 73(5):931-41 (2014). PMID: 24610297; PMCID: PMC4000412

Falchook, G. S., Venkatakrishnan, K., Sarantopoulos, J., Kurzrock, R., Mita, A. C., Fu, S., Mita, M. M., Zhou, X., Jung, J. A., Ullmann, C. D., Milch, C. & Rosen, L. S. Relative bioavailability of a prototype oral solution of the Aurora A kinase inhibitor alisertib (MLN8237) in patients with advanced solid tumors. Int. J. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 53, 563-572 (2015). PMID: 26073352

Kurzrock, R., Gabrail, N., Chandhasin, C., Moulder, S., Smith, C., Brenner, A., Sankhala, K., Mita, A., Elian, K., Bouchard, D. & Sarantopoulos, J.  Safety, pharmacokinetics, and activity of GRN1005, a novel conjugate of angiopep-2, a peptide facilitating brain penetration, and paclitaxel, in patients with advanced solid tumors. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 11(2):308-16. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-11-0566 (2012). PMID:22203732