Photo of 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

Leia R. Jones, Maurice J. W. Zwart, Felix Nickel, Thilo Hackert, Freek Daams, Bas Groot Koerkamp, Quintus Molenaar, Ugo Boggi, Olivier Saint-Marc, Philip Leenart, Rawin Amiri, Mahsoem Ali, Sebastiaan Festen, Olivier Busch, Paul S. Krohn, Ernesto Sparrelid, Bergthor Björnsson, Christian Toso, Edoardo Rosso, Benjamin Strucker, Peter Strandberg-Holka, Maxime Dewulf, Maximilian Schmeding, Emre Bozkurt, Giovanni Ferrari, Steve White, Emanuel Vigia, Zahir Soonawalla, Martijn Stommel, Tim Pencavel, Martin Lovecek, Declan Dunne, Giovanni Marchegiani, Filip Gryspeerdt, Melissa E. Hogg, Mohammad Abu Hilal, Marc G. Besselink (2026) Pan-European Training Program for Robotic Pancreatoduodenectomy (LEARNBOT) Prospective Multicenter Study on Feasibility and Outcome Annals of Surgery, Vol. 284, p. 993-1001 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000007170
Julia E. Menso, Caro L. Bruna, Nine de Graaf, Anouk M. L. H. Emmen, Mahsoem Ali, Bergthor Björnsson, Ugo Boggi, Olivier R. Busch, Annalisa Comandatore, Freek Daams, Giovanni Ferrari, Sebastiaan Festen, Jony van Hilst, Ignace H. J. T. de Hingh, Mathieu D'Hondt, Benedetto Ielpo, Tobias Keck, Bas Groot Koerkamp, Daan J. Lips, Misha D. P. Luyer, J. Sven Mieog, Luca Morelli, I. Quintus Molenaar, Marco Ramera, Francesco Sucameli, Roeland F. de Wilde, Patrick Maisonneuve, Gudrun M. W. Bjornelv, Mohammad Abu Hilal, Marc G. Besselink, Asmund A. Fretland (2026) Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Robotic Versus Open Pancreatoduodenectomy (DIPLOMA-2) A Multicenter International Randomized Trial Annals of Surgery, Vol. 284, p. 920-927 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000007188
Nine de Graaf, Caro L. Bruna, Julia E. Menso, Anouk M. L. H. Emmen, Bergthor Björnsson, Hakon Blomstrand, Ugo Boggi, Bert Bonsing, Olivier R. Busch, Daniela Campani, Valentina Caputo, Tiane Chen, Annalisa Comandatore, A. Stijn L. P. Crobach, Freek Daams, Wouter Derksen, Michail Doukas, Ann Driessen, Alessandro Esposito, Giovanni Ferrari, Sebastiaan Festen, Raffaele Gaeta, Michael Ginesini, Martina Guerra, Bas Groot Koerkamp, Thilo Hackert, Vera Hartman, Jin He, Ignace de Hingh, Jony van Hilst, Casper Jansen, Tobias Keck, Pui Y. Lee, Mike S. L. Liem, Daan J. Lips, Thomas Longerich, Martin Loos, Claudio Luchini, Misha D. P. Luyer, Michele Mazzola, Christoph W. Michalski, J. Sven D. Mieog, Katharina Moller, Luca Morelli, I. Quintus Molenaar, Felix Nickel, Mihaela Raicu, Geert Roeyen, Christian Watermann, Ulrich Wellner, Roeland F. de Wilde, Roberto Salvia, Per Sandström, Johanna W. Wilmink, Arantza Farina Sarasqueta, Mahsoem Ali, Johannes Berkhof, Patrick Maisonneuve, Mohammad Abu Hilal, Marc G. Besselink (2026) Robot-assisted versus open pancreatoduodenectomy for cancer in the pancreatic head (DIPLOMA-2x2): study protocol for an international multicentre patient- and assessor-blinded randomized controlled non-inferiority trial Trials, Vol. 27, Article 603 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13063-026-09692-6
Ebba Kihlstedt Pasquier, Ellen Andersson, Johanna Österberg, Per A Sandström, Bergthor Björnsson (2026) Elective cholecystectomy benchmarks: nationwide registry study BJS Open, Vol. 10, Article zrag175 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsopen/zrag175
Artur Rebelo, Bodil Andersson, Samik Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Paulina Bereza-Carlson, Frederik Berrevoet, Bergthor Björnsson, 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) R0 Resection improves survival after multivisceral resection for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma iScience, Vol. 29, Article 117352 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117352

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

Organisation