Bergthor Björnsson

Bergthor Björnsson

Adjunct Professor

Tumor diseases of the liver and pancreas create great suffering for both patients and relatives. The overall goal of my research is to improve the care of this patient group.

Liver and pancreatic tumors

The research I conduct is largely based on collaborations in various networks. After my defense in 2014, I ran a randomized trial at US where the value of minimally invasive pancreatic surgery was evaluated. At the same time, our unit led a multicenter and multinational study comparing different liver surgeries. It became clear that to tackle the larger clinical issues, large networks are needed. Therefore, I participate in the research for clinical projects described below.

Translational research often requires closer collaboration than clinical research and there can be difficulties with large distances. Therefore, the translational part of my research is mainly conducted in collaboration with other researchers at LiU.

Publications

2025

Hakon Blomstrand, Erik Tesselaar, Bergthor Björnsson, Wolf Bartholomä, Tomas Bjerner, Michael Sandborg, Nils Elander, Mischa Woisetschläger (2025) Anticancer Research, Vol. 45, p. 1547-1558 (Article in journal)

Bas A. Uijterwijk, Alma Moekotte, Ugo Boggi, Michele Mazzola, Bas Groot Koerkamp, Raffaele Dalle Valle, Sharnice Koek, Louisa Bolm, Alessandro Mazzotta, Misha Luyer, Brian K. P. Goh, Miguel A. Suarez Munoz, Bergthor Björnsson, Geert Kazemier, Benedetto Ielpo, Patrick Pessaux, Jorg Kleeff, Poya Ghorbani, Vasileios K. Mavroeidis, Giuseppe K. Fusai, Roberto Salvia, Alessandro Zerbi, Keith J. Roberts, Adnan Alseidi, Bilal Al-Sarireh, Mario Serradilla-Martin, Miljana Vladimirov, Dimitris Korkolis, Zahir Soonawalla, Mario Gruppo, Stefan A. W. Bouwense, Charles M. Vollmer, Stephen W. Behrman, John D. Christein, Marc G. Besselink, Mohammed Abu Hilal (2025) HPB, Vol. 27, p. 318-329 (Article in journal)

Hannes Wållgren, Meimene Khalil, Helena Taflin, Caroline Williamsson, Stefan Gilg, Dennis Björk, Malin Sternby Eilard, Peter Strandberg Holka, Melroy D鈥橲ouza, Linda Lundgren, Christian Cahlin, Bodil Andersson, Ernesto Sparrelid, Per A Sandström, Niclas Kvarnström, Magnus Rizell, Jenny Lundmark Rystedt, Bergthor Björnsson, Christian Sturesson (2025) BJS Open, Vol. 9, Article zrae168 (Article in journal)

Hakon Blomstrand, Malin Bodarve, Fredrik Groth, Peter Naredi, Malin Sund, Caroline Vilhav, Henrik Green, Bergthor Björnsson, Daniel Ohlund, Stina Lindblad, Oskar Franklin, Nils Elander (2025) Oncology Letters, Vol. 29, Article 99 (Article in journal)

Elin Stark, Edvard Gerring, Johan Hylander, Bergthor Björnsson, Per A Sandström, Kristofer Hedman, Karolina Kristenson (2025) Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, Vol. 69, Article e14562 (Article in journal)

Research

Liver and pancreatic tumors

The research I conduct can be divided into clinical projects and trials where the aim is to improve care for today's patients within a short time and translational projects where the aim is to increase knowledge and understanding of underlying mechanisms.

Clinical projects

In the DRAGON network, we investigate methods to stimulate liver growth with as little intervention as possible. The core of the method being explored is that in addition to embolization of the portal vein, the hepatic vein(s) are also embolized to increase growth of the liver that can be left behind during surgery.

The DIPLOMA studies are about comparing the minimally invasive surgical method for pancreatic tumors with the classic open operations to ensure the introduction and expansion of minimally invasive pancreatic surgery. Within the same area is E-MIPS, the European registry for minimally invasive pancreatic surgery.

The ISGACA collaboration focuses on the management of tumors in the bile duct, its mouth and in the duodenum. A number of retrospective multicenter studies have already been done and the prospective ADAPTA study will investigate the choice of chemotherapy for tumors in the bile duct mouth.

The NorPact collaboration is investigating the value of pretreatment with chemotherapy before surgery for pancreatic cancer. Results of a prospective randomized trial are expected shortly.

In the ScanPan project, which is a Nordic collaboration starting from Linköping, clinical research in liver and pancreas areas meets where the value of treatment in pancreatic cancer that has spread (to the liver) is investigated.

Translational projects

Zebrafish embryos are used to investigate tumor characteristics in colon cancer, liver metastases (daughter tumors) and pancreatic cancer. The overall goal of these studies is to be able to provide more targeted chemotherapy based on the individual patient's tumor. The collaboration with basic research is with Lasse Jansen.
The liver's propensity to receive daughter tumors from colon and rectal cancer and pancreatic cancer is investigated in a project run in collaboration with Linda Bojmar.

I am a member of Bojmar Lab

Bojmar Lab

Cancer is a systemic disease. Our research focuses on understanding crosstalk between different organs in the human body, and how this affects cancer progression. We focus mainly on gastrointestinal cancers and their common hepatic metastasis.

Organisation

Teaser image for the division KOO at BKV.

Division of Surgery, Orthopedics and Oncology (KOO)

We carry out research in the fields of experimental orthopedics, surgery and oncology.

Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV)

What characterizes the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV) is the wide breadth of research and education. BKV is one of the largest departments at LiU with affiliation mainly to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

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