Division of Surgery and Oncology

The division has extensive research expertise and its team involve professors, senior lecturers, clinical researchers and doctoral students. The division includes both combined employees and adjunct researchers, as well as emeritus professors who continue to contribute to research and education in surgery and oncology in close collaboration with clinical activities.

Part of the:

The division runs two laboratories focused on basic research within the upper abdominal cancer field. It also leads several academic clinical trials as well as extensive translational and clinical epidemiological research.

Teaching at the division takes place at multiple levels, with the largest component being the seventh semester of the medical program, known as the course in clinical surgery. This course spans 20 weeks and includes clinical placements in acute surgery as well as elective surgery for upper gastrointestinal and hepato-pancreato-biliary cancer. Teaching increasingly incorporates team-based learning (TBL) alongside seminars, teaching rounds, and lectures. The course is offered every other semester in English as an international course.

The Unit for Surgery and Oncology also serves as the administrative home for the medical curriculum’s Professional Development program.

News and calendar

Selected News

Calendar

More selected news and our division’s calendar can be found on the Swedish version of our site.

Publications

All publications from group members

Staff and contact

Head of Division

Contact persons

All members of the group

Address

Karolinska Institutet
Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology
Division of Surgery and Oncology, C1 77
Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge
SE-141 86 Stockholm
Sweden

Research

Photo: Åsa Catapano

Research Groups

The research groups are organised on the basis of special interest in different organ systems, often in close connection with the clinical activities in which the researcher works. Much of the division's research is conducted in national and international networks.

Emergency and Trauma Surgery

Research fields

  • Emergency- and trauma surgery
  • Gallstone disease
  • Hernia surgery
  • Acute ERAS (Enhanced Revocery After Surgery) and perioperative care
  • Surgical simulators and Learning
  • Screening

Researchers

Folke Hammarqvist, MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Rebecka Ahl, MD, PhD
Ulf Fränneby, MD, PhD
Ann Kjellin, MD, PhD

PhD-students

John Thörling
Agnieszka Popowicz
Hanna Ribbing-Wilén

Esophageal and gastric cancer

Main research areas

  • Heredity in esophageal and gastric cancer.
  • Basic and translational research on adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and stomach is conducted in close collaboration with Andrea Ponzetta's lab at CIM, MedH, KI.
  • Project on peritoneal metastases in gastric cancer, including basic research, clinical trials and translational projects focused on intraperitoneal administration of new treatments.
  • Randomized studies in esophageal and gastric cancer
    • NeoRes2 - randomized study on the timing of surgery after completion of chemotherapy in esophageal cancer.
    • NEEDS - randomized trial. Mandatory surgery versus surgery as needed after chemoradiotherapy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
    • EPICURE – Randomized phase II study on PIPAC as an adjuvant in the curative treatment of gastric cancer with a high risk of peritoneal recurrence.
    • IPa-Gastric – Randomized phase II-III study on intraperitoneal cytostatic treatment in gastric cancer with peritoneal metastases.
  • Studies on quality of life and symptoms after surgery in esophageal and gastric cancer.
  • Epidemiological studies on esophageal and gastric cancer based on various national registers.

Research group leader

Professor Magnus Nilsson

Researchers

Mats Lindblad,Professor
Ioannis Rouvelas, Associate Professor
Fredrik Klevebro, Associate Professor            
Maria Gustafsson Liljefors, Associate Professor
Berit Sunde, PhD
Gabriella Alexandersson von Döbeln, PhD
Maria Lampi, PhD
Lisa Liu Burström, PhD
Jessica Ericson, PhDnd
Lars Lundell, Professor emeritus

Hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery

The HPB surgery research group conducts clinical, epidemiologic and translational studies primarily on the patients within the scope of the clinical mission, i.e. patients requiring liver and pancreas surgery, mainly for cancer but also for complex benign conditions.

Group leader

Ernesto Sparrelid

Hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery - Ernesto Sparrelid Research Group

Oncology

We study how tumor cells invade healthy adjacent tissue. Our aim is to understand intercellular crosstalk in a way that is directly applicable to clinical practice. Our group consists of basic researchers and clinicians. 

Group Leader

Marco Gerling

Cancer Cell Invasion – Marco Gerling's research group

Metastases are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The KI-MCM network aims to improve our understanding of metastases by deciphering the metastatic microenvironment – what roles do host cells play to control or fuel metastatic growth? The KI-MCM Network: Microenvironmental Control of Metastases


 

Translational pancreas research

Research areas

Group Leader

Professor Matthias Löhr

Researchers

Rainer Heuchel

Education

Laserendomikroskopi

Basic education within the medical program

The Division of Surgery and Oncology is responsible for the part of the medical program that focus on clinical medicine specialization in surgery, specifically gastrointestinal surgery and emergency surgery. The placement covers roughly six weeks of the semester.

Each autumn semester, the course is given as an international course in English with the participation of 7-16 exchange students, primarily from different parts of Europe.

Every year, the Division and ME Upper Abdomen, Theme Cancer at Karolinska University Hospital receives 10-15 foreign exchange students, so-called "clinical rotations" that last four weeks.

The Division also contributes with supervisors to the students' independent work/examination work during semester 8 of the medical program.

Doctoral education

Photo: Åsa Catapano

Registered PhD-students at our division

Antonio Akiki

Tumour- and host related prognostic factors in biliary tract cancer
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Ebba Asplund

Liquid biopsy before and after surgery for pancreatic cancer
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Ruth Baumgartner

Clinical and tumour biological aspects of patients undergoing hepatectomy for primary and srcondary liver tumours

Erik Bergquist

Pancreatic cancer – early diagnostics and surgical treatment of premalignant lesions

Peter Elbe

Phd Student

Angeline Praveena Enton Raj

Outcomes of multimodality treatment of esophageal adenocarcinoma based on immunological subtypes

Truls Gråberg

Phd Student

Biying Huang

Peritoneal disease in gastric cancer

Magnus Konradsson

Gastric outlet obstruction after esophagectomy: Epidemiology , diagnosis and treatment
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Patrik Larsson

The impact of heart disease on patients with malignant and premalignant pancreatic diseases

Max Lind

Management of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms - Optimisation of the time point of resection
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Henrik Maltzman

Optimizing outcomes for gastroesophageal cancer in the era of endoscopic treatment
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Fahad Murad

Innovations for Response and Recurrence Assessment in Esophageal and Gastric Cancer

Nora Norén

Molecular subtypes, therapeutic approach and outcome in gastroesophageal cancer
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Marcus Nömm

Cognitive impact associated with surgery for gastric and esophageal cancer
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Halla Sif Ólafsdóttir

Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Oesophageal Cancer
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Dawid Rutkowski

A deep learning-based radiogenomic approach to assess tumour characteristics in pancreatic cancer

Wiktor Rutkowski

Tumor-related fecal dysbiosis in pancreatic cancer patients
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Simon Olsson Boström

Health Literacy and Health-Related Quality of Life of Esophageal and Gastric Cancer Patients

Gabriel Saliba

The role of molecular subtypes and biomarkers in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma for individually tailored treatment and increased overall survival

Caroline Salmén

Tumor-biology of liver metastases: Clinical and clinicopathological studies

Daniel Selin

Aspects of acute pancreatitis – studies on etiology and outcome
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Johanna Sterner

Recurrence Patterns and Treatment Optimization in Colorectal Liver Metastases
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Sara Söderqvist

Replacement Growth in Pancreatic Cancer and its Liver Metastases: Live Cell Studies and Clinical Connections

John Thörling

Aspects of glucose metabolism in acute surgical and orthopedic patients
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Maria Annika Viljamaa

Liver Metastases Encapsulation: Cellular Players and Molecular Mechanisms
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Hannes Wållgren

Robotic-assisted contra open resection for suspected or confirmed gallbladder cancer

Dissertations

Theses from the division

Keywords:
Cancer and Oncology Gastroenterology Gastroenterology and Hepatology Gastrointestinal Neoplasms General Surgery Show all
Content reviewer:
Magnus Nilsson
Åsa Catapano
27-04-2026