Jakob Stenman

Paediatric surgeon with a background in transplantation surgery and molecular biology research. Clinical Lead for Surgical Oncology at the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital. Principal Investigator at the Pediatric Cancer Research Unit, Karolinska Institutet with a focus on development and implementation of targeted radio-pharmaceutical therapy for neuroblastoma. Chief Investigator of the LuDO-N Trial, a phase II clinical trial assessing radio-pharmaceutical therapy with single agent 177-Lutetium-DOTATATE for relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma in children. Member of the SIOPEN Surgical and Clinical Trials Committees and a board member of the Nordic Society for Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (NOPHO).

My research focuses on improving survival and reducing long term morbidity after treatment for solid tumors in children.

I currently lead the LuDO-N Trial (A phase II trial of 177-Lutetium-DOTATATE in children with primary refractory or relapsed high-risk neuroblastoma, EudraCT: 2020-004445-36). LuDO-N is a Nordic Society for Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (NOPHO) clinical trial, sponsored by the Karolinska University Hospital. The trial is conducted in collaboration with the Prinses Máxima Centrum voor kinderoncologie in The Netherlands and the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. The trial is funded by Barncancerfonden, Cancerfonden, Region Stockholm, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and by Advanced Accelerator Applications, a Novartis company.

I have recently initiated a research collaboration with Advanced Accelerator Applications / Novartis to develop the next generation of radiopharmaceutical therapy for neuroblastoma. The project will span over 3 years and involve researchers Kasper Karlsson, Thuy A. Tran and Ninib Baryawno at Karolinska Institutet / SciLifeLab Stockholm as well as Marika Nestor and Fredrik J Swartling at Uppsala University / SciLifeLab Uppsala. We hope that this project will result in a new radiopharmaceutical being brought into clinical trials.

Finally, I am engaged in the implementation and development of brachytherapy, in combination with organ-sparing surgery, for rhabdomyosarcoma in the bladder and prostate. This technique has been pioneered at the Hôpital Bicêtre and Institute Gustave Roussy in Paris. We have shown that equally high survival rates, with acceptable side effects, can be achieved using high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. Further refinements of the surgical technique for catheter placement is ongoing.