diff --git a/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/async_utils.py b/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/async_utils.py
index d2c62ba55ffb..c8892fba010a 100644
--- a/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/async_utils.py
+++ b/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/async_utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import asyncio
 import logging
 from collections import deque
-from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable
+from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable, Coroutine
 from contextlib import suppress
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from functools import wraps
@@ -210,3 +210,67 @@ async def worker(in_q: Queue[QueueElement], out_q: Queue) -> None:
         return wrapper
 
     return decorator
+
+
+TaskCancelCallback = Callable[[], Awaitable[bool]]
+_POLL_INTERVAL_S: float = 0.01
+
+
+class TaskCancelled(Exception):
+    """Internal exception raised by the poller task when the client disconnects."""
+
+
+async def _poller_for_task_group(
+    close_event: asyncio.Event,
+    cancel_awaitable: TaskCancelCallback,
+    poll_interval: float,
+):
+    """
+    Polls for cancellation via the callback and raises TaskCancelled if it occurs.
+    """
+    while not await cancel_awaitable():
+        await asyncio.sleep(poll_interval)
+        if close_event.is_set():
+            return
+    raise TaskCancelled
+
+
+async def run_until_cancelled(
+    *,
+    coro: Coroutine,
+    cancel_callback: TaskCancelCallback,
+    poll_interval: float = _POLL_INTERVAL_S,
+) -> Any:
+    """
+    Runs the given coroutine until it completes or cancellation is requested.
+
+    This function executes the provided coroutine and periodically checks the given
+    cancel_callback. If cancellation is requested (i.e., cancel_callback returns True),
+    the coroutine is cancelled and a TaskCancelled exception is raised. If the coroutine
+    completes first, its result (or exception) is returned/reraised.
+    """
+    sentinel = object()
+    close_poller_event = asyncio.Event()
+    try:
+        # Create two tasks in a TaskGroup
+        async with asyncio.TaskGroup() as tg:
+
+            # One to poll for cancellation
+            tg.create_task(
+                _poller_for_task_group(
+                    close_poller_event, cancel_callback, poll_interval
+                ),
+                name=f"run_until_cancelled/poller/{coro.__name__}/{id(sentinel)}",
+            )
+            # The other to run the actual coroutine
+            coro_task = tg.create_task(
+                coro,
+                name=f"run_until_cancelled/coroutine/{coro.__name__}/{id(sentinel)}",
+            )
+            await coro_task
+            close_poller_event.set()
+
+        return coro_task.result()
+
+    except* Exception as eg:
+        raise eg.exceptions[0]  # pylint: disable=no-member
diff --git a/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/cancellation_middleware.py b/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/cancellation_middleware.py
index 0f7003137bbe..3d69c72d8ab1 100644
--- a/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/cancellation_middleware.py
+++ b/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/cancellation_middleware.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import asyncio
 import logging
-from typing import NoReturn
+from functools import partial
 
+from servicelib.async_utils import TaskCancelled, run_until_cancelled
 from starlette.requests import Request
 from starlette.types import ASGIApp, Message, Receive, Scope, Send
 
@@ -10,29 +11,23 @@
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class _ClientDisconnectedError(Exception):
-    pass
-
-
-async def _message_poller(
-    request: Request, queue: asyncio.Queue, receive: Receive
-) -> NoReturn:
-    while True:
-        message = await receive()
-        if message["type"] == "http.disconnect":
-            _logger.debug(
-                "client disconnected the request to %s!", request.url, stacklevel=2
-            )
-            raise _ClientDisconnectedError
-
-        # Puts the message in the queue
-        await queue.put(message)
-
-
 async def _handler(
     app: ASGIApp, scope: Scope, queue: asyncio.Queue[Message], send: Send
 ) -> None:
-    return await app(scope, queue.get, send)
+    await app(scope, queue.get, send)
+
+
+async def _is_client_disconnected(
+    receive: Receive, queue: asyncio.Queue[Message], request: Request
+) -> bool:
+    message = await receive()
+    if message["type"] == "http.disconnect":
+        _logger.debug("client disconnected, terminating request to %s!", request.url)
+        return True
+
+    # Puts the message in the queue
+    await queue.put(message)
+    return False
 
 
 class RequestCancellationMiddleware:
@@ -58,23 +53,22 @@ async def __call__(self, scope: Scope, receive: Receive, send: Send) -> None:
             return
 
         # Let's make a shared queue for the request messages
-        queue: asyncio.Queue[Message] = asyncio.Queue()
         request = Request(scope)
+        queue: asyncio.Queue[Message] = asyncio.Queue()
 
         with log_context(_logger, logging.DEBUG, f"cancellable request {request.url}"):
             try:
-                async with asyncio.TaskGroup() as tg:
-                    handler_task = tg.create_task(
-                        _handler(self.app, scope, queue, send)
-                    )
-                    poller_task = tg.create_task(
-                        _message_poller(request, queue, receive)
-                    )
-                    await handler_task
-                    poller_task.cancel()
-            except* _ClientDisconnectedError:
-                if not handler_task.done():
-                    _logger.info(
-                        "The client disconnected. The request to %s was cancelled.",
-                        request.url,
-                    )
+                await run_until_cancelled(
+                    coro=_handler(self.app, scope, queue, send),
+                    cancel_callback=partial(
+                        _is_client_disconnected, receive, queue, request
+                    ),
+                    poll_interval=0.0,
+                )
+                return
+
+            except TaskCancelled:
+                _logger.info(
+                    "The client disconnected. request to %s was cancelled.",
+                    request.url,
+                )
diff --git a/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/requests_decorators.py b/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/requests_decorators.py
index ae5f1ea047c6..b9c6f4941202 100644
--- a/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/requests_decorators.py
+++ b/packages/service-library/src/servicelib/fastapi/requests_decorators.py
@@ -1,20 +1,20 @@
-import asyncio
 import inspect
 import logging
-from functools import wraps
+from functools import partial, wraps
 from typing import Any, Protocol
 
 from fastapi import Request, status
 from fastapi.exceptions import HTTPException
 
+from ..async_utils import TaskCancelled, run_until_cancelled
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class _HandlerWithRequestArg(Protocol):
     __name__: str
 
-    async def __call__(self, request: Request, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
-        ...
+    async def __call__(self, request: Request, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any: ...
 
 
 def _validate_signature(handler: _HandlerWithRequestArg):
@@ -30,89 +30,46 @@ def _validate_signature(handler: _HandlerWithRequestArg):
 
 
 #
-# cancel_on_disconnect/disconnect_poller based
-# on https://github.com/RedRoserade/fastapi-disconnect-example/blob/main/app.py
+# cancel_on_disconnect based on TaskGroup
 #
-_POLL_INTERVAL_S: float = 0.01
 
 
-async def _disconnect_poller(request: Request, result: Any):
-    """
-    Poll for a disconnect.
-    If the request disconnects, stop polling and return.
-    """
-    while not await request.is_disconnected():
-        await asyncio.sleep(_POLL_INTERVAL_S)
-    return result
+async def _is_client_disconnected(request: Request):
+    return await request.is_disconnected()
 
 
 def cancel_on_disconnect(handler: _HandlerWithRequestArg):
     """
-    After client disconnects, handler gets cancelled in ~<3 secs
+    Decorator that cancels the request handler if the client disconnects.
+
+    Uses a TaskGroup to manage the handler and a poller task concurrently.
+    If the client disconnects, the poller raises an exception, which is
+    caught and translated into a 503 Service Unavailable response.
     """
 
     _validate_signature(handler)
 
     @wraps(handler)
     async def wrapper(request: Request, *args, **kwargs):
-        sentinel = object()
-
-        # Create two tasks:
-        # one to poll the request and check if the client disconnected
-        poller_task = asyncio.create_task(
-            _disconnect_poller(request, sentinel),
-            name=f"cancel_on_disconnect/poller/{handler.__name__}/{id(sentinel)}",
-        )
-        # , and another which is the request handler
-        handler_task = asyncio.create_task(
-            handler(request, *args, **kwargs),
-            name=f"cancel_on_disconnect/handler/{handler.__name__}/{id(sentinel)}",
-        )
-
-        done, pending = await asyncio.wait(
-            [poller_task, handler_task], return_when=asyncio.FIRST_COMPLETED
-        )
-
-        # One has completed, cancel the other
-        for t in pending:
-            t.cancel()
-
-            try:
-                await asyncio.wait_for(t, timeout=3)
-
-            except asyncio.CancelledError:
-                pass
-            except Exception:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
-                if t is handler_task:
-                    raise
-            finally:
-                assert t.done()  # nosec
-
-        # Return the result if the handler finished first
-        if handler_task in done:
-            assert poller_task.done()  # nosec
-            return await handler_task
-
-        # Otherwise, raise an exception. This is not exactly needed,
-        # but it will prevent validation errors if your request handler
-        # is supposed to return something.
-        logger.warning(
-            "Request %s %s cancelled since client %s disconnected:\n - %s\n - %s",
-            request.method,
-            request.url,
-            request.client,
-            f"{poller_task=}",
-            f"{handler_task=}",
-        )
-
-        assert poller_task.done()  # nosec
-        assert handler_task.done()  # nosec
-
-        # NOTE: uvicorn server fails with 499
-        raise HTTPException(
-            status_code=status.HTTP_503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
-            detail=f"client disconnected from {request=}",
-        )
+
+        try:
+            return await run_until_cancelled(
+                coro=handler(request, *args, **kwargs),
+                cancel_callback=partial(_is_client_disconnected, request),
+            )
+
+        except TaskCancelled as exc:
+
+            logger.info(
+                "Request %s %s cancelled since client %s disconnected.",
+                request.method,
+                request.url,
+                request.client,
+            )
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=status.HTTP_503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
+                detail="Client disconnected",
+            ) from exc
 
     return wrapper
 
diff --git a/packages/service-library/tests/fastapi/test_request_decorators.py b/packages/service-library/tests/fastapi/test_request_decorators.py
index 18f6267cf33a..968534c36383 100644
--- a/packages/service-library/tests/fastapi/test_request_decorators.py
+++ b/packages/service-library/tests/fastapi/test_request_decorators.py
@@ -2,20 +2,26 @@
 # pylint: disable=unused-argument
 # pylint: disable=unused-variable
 
+
 import asyncio
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import time
-from collections.abc import Callable, Iterator
+from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable, Iterator
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import NamedTuple
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock
 
 import pytest
 import requests
 from fastapi import FastAPI, Query, Request
+from servicelib.async_utils import TaskCancelCallback
 from servicelib.fastapi.requests_decorators import cancel_on_disconnect
 
+POLLER_CLEANUP_DELAY_S = 100.0
+
+
 CURRENT_FILE = Path(sys.argv[0] if __name__ == "__main__" else __file__).resolve()
 CURRENT_DIR = CURRENT_FILE.parent
 
@@ -120,3 +126,65 @@ def test_cancel_on_disconnect(get_unused_port: Callable[[], int]):
         # INFO:     127.0.0.1:35134 - "GET /example?wait=1 HTTP/1.1" 200 OK
 
         assert MESSAGE_ON_HANDLER_CANCELLATION in server_log
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def long_running_poller_mock(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> Callable[[asyncio.Event, TaskCancelCallback, float], Awaitable]:
+
+    async def _mock_disconnect_poller(
+        close_event: asyncio.Event,
+        cancel_awaitable: TaskCancelCallback,
+        poll_interval: float,
+    ):
+        _mock_disconnect_poller.called = True
+        while not await cancel_awaitable():
+            await asyncio.sleep(2)
+            if close_event.is_set():
+                break
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "servicelib.async_utils._poller_for_task_group",
+        _mock_disconnect_poller,
+    )
+    return _mock_disconnect_poller
+
+
+async def test_decorator_waits_for_poller_cleanup(
+    long_running_poller_mock: Callable[
+        [asyncio.Event, TaskCancelCallback, float], Awaitable
+    ],
+):
+    """
+    Tests that the decorator's wrapper waits for the poller task to finish
+    its cleanup, even if the handler finishes first, without needing a full server.
+    """
+    long_running_poller_mock.called = False
+    handler_was_called = False
+
+    @cancel_on_disconnect
+    async def my_handler(request: Request):
+        nonlocal handler_was_called
+        handler_was_called = True
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.1)  # Simulate quick work
+        return "Success"
+
+    # Mock a fastapi.Request object
+    mock_request = AsyncMock(spec=Request)
+    mock_request.is_disconnected.return_value = False
+
+    # ---
+    tasks_before = asyncio.all_tasks()
+
+    # Call the decorated handler
+    _ = await my_handler(mock_request)
+
+    tasks_after = asyncio.all_tasks()
+    # ---
+
+    assert handler_was_called
+    assert long_running_poller_mock.called == True
+
+    # Check that no background tasks were left orphaned
+    assert tasks_before == tasks_after
diff --git a/services/api-server/src/simcore_service_api_server/api/routes/files.py b/services/api-server/src/simcore_service_api_server/api/routes/files.py
index 69f779f13e19..a220edacb232 100644
--- a/services/api-server/src/simcore_service_api_server/api/routes/files.py
+++ b/services/api-server/src/simcore_service_api_server/api/routes/files.py
@@ -287,6 +287,7 @@ async def upload_files(files: list[UploadFile] = FileParam(...)):
     response_model=ClientFileUploadData,
     responses=_FILE_STATUS_CODES,
 )
+@cancel_on_disconnect
 async def get_upload_links(
     request: Request,
     client_file: UserFileToProgramJob | UserFile,
@@ -421,6 +422,7 @@ async def abort_multipart_upload(
     response_model=OutputFile,
     responses=_FILE_STATUS_CODES,
 )
+@cancel_on_disconnect
 async def complete_multipart_upload(
     request: Request,
     file_id: UUID,