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

2026

Artur Rebelo, Bodil Andersson, Samik Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Paulina Bereza-Carlson, Frederik Berrevoet, Bergthor Bj枚rnsson, Stefan Bouwense, Erik Bergquist, Florian Bosch, Markus Buchler, Nikolaos Chatzizacharias, Laurent Coubeau, Marie Crede, Cristine B. Pathirannehalage Don, Pieter Dries, Mert Erkan, Matthaus Felsenstein, Isabella Frigerio, Alessandro Giardino, Tim Glowka, Parsa Hadesi, Vera Hartman, Karin Johansen, Marie Klein, Johannes Klose, Karl Knipper, Carl-Stephan Leonhardt, Martin Loos, Thomas Malinka, Giovanni Marchegiani, Christopher Mansson, Riccardo Pellegrini, Giampaolo Perri, L. H. Poelsler, Geert Roeyen, Michael Rousek, Pablo Sancho, Stina Schild-Suhren, Thomas Schmidt, Leyre Serrablo, Alejandro Serrablo, Andrew Malvern Smith, Gregor A. Stavrou, Oliver Strobel, Shailesh Shrikhande, Alexandra Strobel, Ignazio Tarantino, Jozef Urdzik, Tim Vilz, Roberta Vella, Johanna Wennerblom, Patricia Wyzlic, Jorg Kleeff (2026) iScience, Vol. 29, Article 117352 (Article in journal)

Jose Manuel Ramia, Celia Villodre, Dimitrios Giakoustidis, Paraskevi Chatzikomnitsa, Pietro Addeo, Philippe Bachellier, Gennaro Nappo, Alessandro Zerbi, Julie Navez, Gerardo Blanco-Fernandez, Jakob Kirkegard, Juli Busquets, Bergthor Bj枚rnsson, Santiago Sanchez-Cabus, Elizabeth Pando, Sebastian Manuel Staubli, Sanjay Pandanaboyana, Daniel Aparicio-Lopez, Harry V. M. Spiers, Paola Melgar, Rami Rhaiem, Maria Joao Amaral, Cristina Vallejo-Bernad, Bodil Andersson, Fernando Burdio, George Tzimas, Isabel Mora-Oliver, Michael Rousek, Carlos Domingo-del-Pozo, Ahmad Mahamid, Dimitrios Lytras, Evangelos D. Lolis, Rafael Lopez-Andujar, Maria Sorribas, Pablo Alejandro Lopez, Hassan Elghonemy, Bhargava Chikkala, Weiboom Lim, Anita Balakrishnan, Maria Villamonte Roman, Cristina Ballester, Carlos Horndler-Algarate, Mario Serradilla-Martin (2026) World Journal of Surgical Oncology, Vol. 24, Article 299 (Article in journal)

Tim Reese, Jennie Engstrand, Dennis Bj枚rk, Anne Madsi Ottestad, Kristian Schaumburg Kiim, Maximilian Evers, Peter Norgaard Larsen, Nicolai Aagaard Schultz, Bard Ingvald Rosok, Ulrik Carling, Fredrik Holmquist, Gert Lindell, Per Sandstr枚m, Jorg Bocker, Stefan Gilg, Christian Sturesson, Karl J. Oldhafer, Bergthor Bj枚rnsson, Ernesto Sparrelid (2026) European Journal of Surgical Oncology, Vol. 52, Article 111884 (Article in journal)

Laia Faseh, Petter Fruhling, Helena Taflin, Jenny Lundmark Rystedt, Caroline Williamsson, Oskar Hemmingsson, Bergthor Bj枚rnsson, Marco Gerling, Ernesto Sparrelid, Per Sandstr枚m, Kristina Hasselgren, Jennie Engstrand (2026) Acta Oncologica, Vol. 65, p. 201-212 (Article in journal)

Ebba Kihlstedt Pasquier, Ellen Andersson, Johan Ottosson, Bergthor Bj枚rnsson, Per Sandstr枚m (2026) Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, Vol. 22, p. 628-635 (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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