 After retirement Graffi continued to be involved in cancer research, but more in the area of chemotherapy and the problems related to it.He received various awards throughout his life including the Academy of Natural Scientists Cothenius Medal in 1977, the Paul Ehrlich Prize in Frankfurt in 1979, the Helmholtz Medal of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin in 1984, an honorary doctorate from the University of Leipzig in 1990, and the Cross of the Order of Merit from the German government in 1995.Graffi died in Berlin in 2006.