Dr. Aysel Ahadova

Currently working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Applied Tumor Biology, University Hospital Heidelberg, I graduated from Azerbaijan Medical University in 2011. Upon receiving a 3-year DAAD scholarship I came to Germany to realize my dream of working in cancer research and started with my doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. von Knebel Doeberitz. During the PhD years I was involved in several projects studying microsatellite unstable cancers and did research on identification of novel drugs and drug combinations targeting glucose metabolism in cancer cells.

One particular topic of my research is Lynch syndrome carcinogenesis. I work on revealing the molecular nature of Lynch syndrome-associated cancers in order to improve the therapeutic and preventive options for patients with cancer predisposition. My vision is to develop treatment strategies that reduce mortality and improve life quality of patients.

Another focus of my research is Lynch syndrome immune biology. I am the local project coordinator of the INDICATE Network aiming to delineate the role of HLA genotype as a potential cancer risk modifier in Lynch syndrome. I am also involved in the NCI-funded CAP-IT U54 project aiming at developing next-generation cancer immunoprevention approaches.

Dr. Aysel Ahadova

Current research topics

Non-polypous cancers in Lynch syndrome

Extracolonic cancers in Lynch syndrome

Immune response against FSP in Lynch syndrome patients

Modelling MSI immunology in mice

Therapy-induced neoglycans in cancer cells 

Glucose metabolism

Publications / Output

Ahadova A, Stenzinger A, Seppälä T, Hüneburg R, Kloor M, Bläker H; Lynpath Investigators. A “Two-in-One Hit” Model of Shortcut Carcinogenesis in MLH1 Lynch Syndrome Carriers. Gastroenterology. 2023 Jul;165(1):267-270.e4. Epub 2023 Mar 11. PMID: 36907525

Sei S, Ahadova A, Keskin DB, Bohaumilitzky L, Gebert J, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Lipkin SM, Kloor M. Lynch syndrome cancer vaccines: A roadmap for the development of precision immunoprevention strategies. Front Oncol. 2023 Mar 22;13:1147590. eCollection 2023. PMID: 37035178

Witt J, Haupt S, Ahadova A, Bohaumilitzky L, Fuchs V, Ballhausen A, Przybilla MJ, Jendrusch M, Seppälä TT, Fürst D, Walle T, Busch E, Haag GM, Hüneburg R, Nattermann J, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Heuveline V, Kloor M. A simple approach for detecting HLA-A*02 alleles in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples and an application example for studying cancer immunoediting. HLA. 2023 Jan;101(1):24-33. Epub 2022 Oct 25. PMID: 36251018


Ahadova A, Witt J, Haupt S, Gallon R, Hüneburg R, Nattermann J, Ten Broeke S, Bohaumilitzky L, Hernandez-Sanchez A, Santibanez-Koref M, Jackson MS, Ahtiainen M, Pylvänäinen K, Andini K, Grolmusz VK, Möslein G, Dominguez-Valentin M, Møller P, Fürst D, Sijmons R, Borthwick GM, Burn J, Mecklin JP, Heuveline V, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Seppälä T, Kloor M. Is HLA type a possible cancer risk modifier in Lynch syndrome? Int J Cancer. 2023 May 15;152(10):2024-2031. Epub 2022 Oct 14. PMID: 36214792


Bohaumilitzky L, Kluck K, Hüneburg R, Gallon R, Nattermann J, Kirchner M, Kristiansen G, Hommerding O, Pfuderer PL, Wagner L, Echterdiek F, Kösegi S, Müller N, Fischer K, Nelius N, Hartog B, Borthwick G, Busch E, Haag GM, Bläker H, Möslein G, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Seppälä TT, Ahtiainen M, Mecklin JP, Bishop DT, Burn J, Stenzinger A, Budczies J, Kloor M, Ahadova A. The Different Immune Profiles of Normal Colonic Mucosa in Cancer-Free Lynch Syndrome Carriers and Lynch Syndrome Colorectal Cancer Patients. Gastroenterology. 2022 Mar;162(3):907-919.e10. Epub 2021 Dec 2. PMID: 34863788


Gebert J, Gelincik O, Oezcan-Wahlbrink M, Marshall JD, Hernandez-Sanchez A, Urban K, Long M, Cortes E, Tosti E, Katzenmaier EM, Song Y, Elsaadi A, Deng N, Vilar E, Fuchs V, Nelius N, Yuan YP, Ahadova A, Sei S, Shoemaker RH, Umar A, Wei L, Liu S, Bork P, Edelmann W, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Lipkin SM, Kloor M. Recurrent Frameshift Neoantigen Vaccine Elicits Protective Immunity With Reduced Tumor Burden and Improved Overall Survival in a Lynch Syndrome Mouse Model. Gastroenterology. 2021 Oct;161(4):1288-1302.e13. Epub 2021 Jul 2. PMID: 34224739


Busch E, Ahadova A, Kosmalla K, Bohaumilitzky L, Pfuderer PL, Ballhausen A, Witt J, Wittemann JN, Bläker H, Holinski-Feder E, Jäger D, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Haag GM, Kloor M. Beta-2-microglobulin Mutations Are Linked to a Distinct Metastatic Pattern and a Favorable Outcome in Microsatellite-Unstable Stage IV Gastrointestinal Cancers. Front Oncol. 2021 Jun 8;11:669774. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34168989


Ballhausen A, Przybilla MJ, Jendrusch M, Haupt S, Pfaffendorf E, Seidler F, Witt J, Hernandez Sanchez A, Urban K, Draxlbauer M, Krausert S, Ahadova A, Kalteis MS, Pfuderer PL, Heid D, Stichel D, Gebert J, Bonsack M, Schott S, Bläker H, Seppälä T, Mecklin JP, Ten Broeke S, Nielsen M, Heuveline V, Krzykalla J, Benner A, Riemer AB, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Kloor M. The shared frameshift mutation landscape of microsatellite-unstable cancers suggests immunoediting during tumor evolution. Nat Commun. 2020 Sep 21;11(1):4740. PMID: 32958755


Engel C, Ahadova A, Seppälä T, Aretz S, Bigirwamungu-Bargeman M, Bläker H, Bucksch K, Büttner R, de Vos Tot Nederveen Cappel W, Endris V, Holinski-Feder E, Holzapfel S, Hüneburg R, Jacobs MAJM, Koornstra JJ, Langers AM, Lepistö A, Morak M, Möslein G, Peltomäki P, Pylvänäinen K, Rahner N, Renkonen-Sinisalo L, Schulmann K, Steinke-Lange V, Stenzinger A, Strassburg CP, van de Meeberg PC, van Kouwen M, van Leerdam M, Vangala DB, Vecht J, Verhulst ML, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Weitz J, Zachariae S, Loeffler M, Mecklin JP, Kloor M, Vasen HF; German HNPCC Consortium, the Dutch Lynch Syndrome Collaborative Group, and the Finnish Lynch Syndrome Registry. Associations of Pathogenic Variants in MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 With Risk of Colorectal Adenomas and Tumors and With Somatic Mutations in Patients With Lynch Syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2020 Jan 8. pii: S0016-5085(20)30014-7. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2019.12.032. PMID: 31926173

Pfuderer PL, Ballhausen A, Seidler F, Stark HJ, Grabe N, Frayling IM, Ager A, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Kloor M, Ahadova A. High endothelial venules are associated with microsatellite instability, hereditary background and immune evasion in colorectal cancer. Br J Cancer. 2019 Aug;121(5):395-404. Epub 2019 Jul 30. PMID: 31358939

Ahadova A, Gallon R, Gebert J, Ballhausen A, Endris V, Kirchner M, Stenzinger A, Burn J, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Bläker H, Kloor M. Three molecular pathways model colorectal carcinogenesis in Lynch syndrome. Int J Cancer. 2018 Jul 1. PMID: 29424427

Ahadova A, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Bläker H, Kloor M. CTNNB1-mutant colorectal carcinomas with immediate invasive growth: a model of interval cancers in Lynch syndrome. Fam Cancer. 2016 Oct;15(4):579-86. PMID: 26960970.

Kloor M, Staffa L, Ahadova A, von Knebel Doeberitz M. Clinical significance of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2014 Jan;399(1):23-31. Review. PMID: 24048684

Jesinghaus M, Wolf T, Pfarr N, Muckenhuber A, Ahadova A, Warth A, Goeppert B, Sers C, Kloor M, Endris V, Stenzinger A, Weichert W. Distinctive Spatiotemporal Stability of Somatic Mutations in Metastasized Microsatellite-stable Colorectal Cancer. Am J Surg Pathol. 2015 Aug;39(8):1140-7. PMID: 25786087

Ahadova A, Gebert J, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Kopitz J, Kloor M. Dose-dependent effect of 2-deoxy-D-glucose on glycoprotein mannosylation in cancer cells. IUBMB Life. 2015 Mar;67(3):218-26. PMID: 25854316

Kloor M, Staffa L, Ahadova A, von Knebel Doeberitz M. Clinical significance of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer.Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2014 Jan;399(1):23-31. Review. PMID: 24048684

Capper D, Voigt A, Bozukova G, Ahadova A, Kickingereder P, von Deimling A, von Knebel Doeberitz M, Kloor M. BRAF V600E-specific immunohistochemistry for the exclusion of Lynch syndrome in MSI-H colorectal cancer.Int J Cancer. 2013 Oct 1;133(7):1624-30. PMID: 23553055

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AYSEL AHADOVA