Andri Papakonstantinou has been awarded the Pfizer and Swedish Society of Oncology's (SOF) research scholarship in oncology for postdoctoral researchers in 2025. The scholarship was presented at SOF's annual meeting in Sundsvall on March 20th.
The grant, established in 2022, aims to encourage more members to continue their research after their dissertation to promote translational and clinical cancer research. Andri Papakonstantinou , postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Oncology-Pathology and section chief and senior oncologist at Karolinska University Hostpital, is one of two postdoctoral researchers studying breast cancer who share the scholarship amount of 250,000 SEK.
Improving breast cancer patients' survival and quality of life
Andri Papakonstantinou's research focuses on mapping and understanding cardiotoxicity in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women, and more than one in ten women are affected at some point in their lives. Breast cancer is usually divided into different subgroups based on the tumor's biological characteristics, such as hormone-sensitive breast cancer, HER2-positive breast cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer.
Despite significant advances in breast cancer treatment, both traditional cytostatics and newer targeted anti-HER2 drugs can negatively affect the heart. To improve patient survival and quality of life, it is crucial to identify patients at higher risk for heart side effects and optimize their follow-up.
"I am very pleased and honored to have been awarded Pfizer's and SOF's oncology grant," says Andri Papakonstantinou. "The grant gives me the opportunity to conduct important data analyses to identify patients at higher risk for cardiotoxicity and create better evidence on how often monitoring needs to be carried out. The goal is to optimize follow-up, avoid unnecessary examinations, and reduce the anxiety and stress these can cause. This is crucial for both patient survival and quality of life."
The aim of this research using so-called Real World Data (RWD) is to contribute to more personalized treatment, more efficient use of healthcare resources, improved long-term follow-up, and better care for breast cancer patients.
