Rimma Axelsson

Rimma Axelsson

Professor/Senior Physician
Visiting address: Hotellet, plan 2, Karolinska universitetssjukhuset, 17176 Stockholm
Postal address: K1 Molekylär medicin och kirurgi, K1 MMK Diagnostisk radiologi, 171 76 Stockholm

About me

  • Rimma Axelsson was made Professor of Nuclear Medicine at Karolinska Institutet on 1 February 2022.

    Rimma Axelsson received her Swedish MD licence in 1995, and has since been working at Huddinge Hospital that later became Karolinska University Hospital.

    She became a specialist in nuclear medicine in 1997 and in radiology in 2000. She earned her PhD from KI in 2000, was made docent of nuclear medicine in 2006 and has been an adjunct professor at KI since 2012.

    Founder for Theranostics Trial Center at Karolinska. establiushed 2024, Program leader for Theranostics Trial Alliance Sweden.

Research

  • Theranostics! Theranostics and Theranostics!

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2027
    Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC) have poor prognoses with low survival rates. Treatment options for these metastatic solid tumors have been expanded through the introduction of checkpoint inhibitors (such as atezolizumab and pembrolizumab), systemic chemotherapy, or antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) directed against cell surface proteins like TROP-2 (Trophoblast cell surface antigen 2).A promising approach is to develop radiotheranostics using radiolabelled novel antibodies that target TROP-2 expression, a protein highly expressed in both TNBC and mUC. The concept utilizes  a TROP-2 specific monoclonal antibody, radiolabelled with alpha- or beta particle radiation for therapy or radiolabelled with gamma och positron radiation for diagnostics. This approach delivers therapeutic quantities of radioactivity specifically to the tumor cells while sparing normal tissues. The same antibody, radiolabelled with diagnostic radionuclides, tumors are detected by imaging modalities that are currently used in clinical practice. We believe that targeting TROP-2 with radiotheranostics might provide an effective treatment option with a favourable toxicity-benefit balance, and might be a better option for patients who do not respond to ADC or other later line systemic therapies. The project is currently in preclinical development and has high translational feasibility into patients within 4-5 years.
  • The importance of modern radiological methods: 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT and WB-DWI MRI for staging patients with primary diagnosed prostate cancer
    Region Stockholm
    1 April 2020 - 31 December 2022

Employments

  • Professor/Senior Physician, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2006
  • Doctor Of Philosophy, Center for Surgical Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, 2000

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