Kajsa E. Affolter
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Kajsa E. Affolter, MD

Languages spoken: English

Specialties

  • Pathology, Anatomical

Board Certification

American Board of Pathology (Anatomic & Clinical)
National Board of Medical Examiners

Board Certification and Academic Information

Academic Departments Pathology -Associate Professor (Clinical)
Board Certification
American Board of Pathology (Anatomic & Clinical)
National Board of Medical Examiners

Education history

Undergraduate Microbiology - Kansas State University B.S.
Professional Medical Medicine - University of Kansas Medical Center M.D.
Residency Anatomic and Clinical Pathology - University of Utah Health Sciences Resident
Fellowship Gastrointestinal, Pancreatic and Hepatobiliary Pathology - University of Utah Health Sciences Fellow
Residency Anatomic and Clinical Pathology - University of Utah Health Sciences Resident
Chief Resident Anatomic and Clinical Pathology - University of Utah Health Sciences Chief Resident

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Fang P, Wilson E, Stubben C, Kabir A, Affolter K, Zhang X, Snyder E (2025). Differential control of growth and identity by HNF4¿ isoforms in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. bioRxiv,
  2. Wilcock D, Sirohi D, Coleman JF, Adelhardt P, Kim JT, Albertson D, Affolter K, Beech C, Jedrzkiewicz J, Ruano AL, Cleary AS, Mahlow J, Balatico M, Gulbahce H (2025). HER2 fluorescence in situ hybridization groups 2-4 breast cancers classified as positive after targeted recounts following equivocal (2+) immunohistochemistry. American journal of clinical pathology, 163(6), 837-846.
  3. Beech C, Wilcock DM, Moore KH, Rowe L, Mahlow J, Jedrzkiewicz J, Cleary AS, Lomo L, Ruano AL, Gering M, Bradshaw D, Maughan M, Tran P, Davis R, Affolter K, Albertson DJ, Adelhardt P, Kim J, Coleman JF, Deftereos G, Gulbahce EH, Sirohi (2025). Changes in HER2 Amplification Status for Breast Cancer Patients After Immunohistochemistry Directed In Situ Hybridization. Applied immunohistochemistry & molecular morphology, 33(2), 91-102.
  4. Brothwell MJ, Cao ¿¿¿ G, Maschek JA, Poss AM, Peterlin AD, Wang ¿¿¿ L, Baker TB, Shahtout JL, Siripoksup P, Pearce QJ, Johnson JM, Finger FM, Prola A, Pellizzari SA, Hale GL, Manuel AM, Watanabe ¿¿¿¿ S, Miranda ER, Affolter KE, Tippetts TS, Nikolova LS, Choi ¿¿¿ RH, Decker ST, Patil M, Catrow JL, Holland WL, Nowinski SM, Lark DS, Fisher-Wellman KH, Mimche PN, Evason KJ, Cox JE, Summers SA, Gerhart-Hines Z, Funai ¿¿¿¿ (2024). Cardiolipin deficiency disrupts CoQ redox state and induces steatohepatitis. bioRxiv,
  5. Wattenberg MM, Colby S, Garrido-Laguna I, Xue Y, Chang R, Delman D, Lee J, Affolter K, Mulvihill SJ, Beg MS, Wang-Gillam A, Wade JL 3rd, Guthrie KA, Chiorean EG, Ahmad SA, Lowy AM, Philip PA, Sohal DPS, Beatty G (2024). Intratumoral Cell Neighborhoods Coordinate Outcomes in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Gastroenterology, 166(6), 1114-1129.
  6. Firpo MA, Boucher KM, Bleicher J, Khanderao GD, Rosati A, Poruk KE, Kamal S, Marzullo L, De Marco M, Falco A, Genovese A, Adler JM, De Laurenzi V, Adler DG, Affolter KE, Garrido-Laguna I, Scaife CL, Turco MC, Mulvihill S (2023). Multianalyte Serum Biomarker Panel for Early Detection of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. JCO clinical cancer informatics, 7, e2200160.
  7. Dong Z, Barraza G, Affolter KE, Witt BL, Jedrzkiewicz (2023). Distinguishing Gastrointestinal Leiomyomas From Muscularis Propria in Biopsy Specimens by Differential Expression of S100 Immunohistochemical Stain. American journal of clinical pathology, 159(1), 53-59.
  8. Boylan KE, Kanth P, Delker D, Hazel MW, Boucher KM, Affolter K, Clayton F, Evason KJ, Jedrzkiewicz J, Pletneva M, Samowitz W, Swanson E, Bronner M (2023). Three pathologic criteria for reproducible diagnosis of colonic sessile serrated lesion versus hyperplastic polyp. Human pathology, 137, 25-35.
  9. Florou V, Elliott A, Bailey MH, Stone D, Affolter K, Soares HP, Nevala-Plagemann C, Scaife C, Walker P, Korn WM, Lou E, Shroff RT, Hosein PJ, Garrido-Laguna (2023). Comparative Genomic Analysis of Pancreatic Acinar Cell Carcinoma (PACC) and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)Unveils New Actionable Genomic Aberrations in PACC. Clinical cancer research, 29(17), 3408-3417.
  10. Wilcock DM, Moore KH, Rowe L, Mahlow J, Jedrzkiewicz J, Cleary AS, Lomo L, Ruano AL, Gering M, Bradshaw D, Maughan M, Tran P, Burlingame J, Davis R, Affolter K, Albertson DJ, Adelhardt P, Kim JT, Coleman JF, Deftereos G, Gulbahce EH, Sirohi (2023). Quantitative Imaging Analysis Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Validation for Clinical HER2 Testing in Breast Cancer. Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine,
  11. Silvis MR, Silva D, Rohweder R, Schuman S, Gudipaty S, Truong A, Yap J, Affolter K, McMahon M, Kinsey (2023). MYC-mediated resistance to trametinib and HCQ in PDAC is overcome by CDK4/6 and lysosomal inhibition. The Journal of experimental medicine, 220(3),
  12. Semaan A, Bernard V, Wong J, Makino Y, Swartzlander DB, Rajapakshe KI, Lee JJ, Officer A, Schmidt CM, Wu HH, Scaife CL, Affolter KE, Nachmanson D, Firpo MA, Yip-Schneider M, Lowy AM, Harismendy O, Sen S, Maitra A, Jakubek YA, Guerrero P (2023). Integrated Molecular Characterization of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms: An NCI Cancer Moonshot Precancer Atlas Pilot Project. Cancer research communications, 3(10), 2062-2073.
  13. Hernandez S, Parra ER, Uraoka N, Tang X, Shen Y, Qiao W, Jiang M, Zhang S, Mino B, Lu W, Pandurengan R, Haymaker C, Affolter K, Scaife CL, Yip-Schneider M, Schmidt CM, Firpo MA, Mulvihill SJ, Koay EJ, Wang H, Wistuba II, Maitra A, Solis LM, Sen (2022). Diminished Immune Surveillance during Histologic Progression of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms Offers a Therapeutic Opportunity for Cancer Interception. Clinical cancer research, 28(9), 1938-1947.
  14. Affolter KE, Hellwig S, Nix DA, Bronner MP, Thomas A, Fuertes CL, Hamil CL, Garrido-Laguna I, Scaife CL, Mulvihill SJ, Underhill H (2021). Detection of circulating tumor DNA without a tumor-informed search using next-generation sequencing is a prognostic biomarker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.), 23(9), 859-869.
  15. Byun S, Affolter KE, Snow AK, Curtin K, Cannon AR, Cannon-Albright LA, Thota R, Neklason D (2021). Differential methylation of G-protein coupled receptor signaling genes in gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors. Scientific reports, 11(1), 12303.
  16. Kmeid M, Zuo C, Lagana SM, Choi WT, Lin J, Yang Z, Liu X, Westerhoff M, Fiel MI, Affolter K, Choi EK, Lee (2020). Interobserver study on histologic features of idiopathic non-cirrhotic portal hypertension. Diagnostic pathology, 15(1), 129.
  17. Gruhl JD, Garrido-Laguna I, Francis SR, Affolter K, Tao R, Lloyd (2020). The impact of squamous cell carcinoma histology on outcomes in nonmetastatic pancreatic cancer. Cancer medicine, 9(5), 1703-1711.
  18. Kinsey CG, Camolotto SA, Boespflug AM, Guillen KP, Foth M, Truong A, Schuman SS, Shea JE, Seipp MT, Yap JT, Burrell LD, Lum DH, Whisenant JR, Gilcrease GW 3rd, Cavalieri CC, Rehbein KM, Cutler SL, Affolter KE, Welm AL, Welm BE, Scaife CL, Snyder EL, McMahon (2019). Protective autophagy elicited by RAF'MEK'ERK inhibition suggests a treatment strategy for RAS-driven cancers. Nature medicine, 25(4), 620-627.
  19. El Jabbour T, Ross JS, Sheehan CE, Affolter KE, Geiersbach KB, Boguniewicz A, Ainechi S, Bronner MP, Jones DM, Lee (2018). PD-L1 protein expression in tumour cells and immune cells in mismatch repair protein-deficient and -proficient colorectal cancer: the foundation study using the SP142 antibody and whole section immunohistochemistry. Journal of clinical pathology, 71(1), 46-51.
  20. Caliskan A, Kohlmann WK, Affolter KE, Downs-Kelly E, Kanth P, Bronner M (2018). Intramucosal lipomas of the colon implicate Cowden syndrome. Modern pathology, 31(4), 643-651.
  21. Delker DA, Wood AC, Snow AK, Samadder NJ, Samowitz WS, Affolter KE, Boucher KM, Pappas LM, Stijleman IJ, Kanth P, Byrne KR, Burt RW, Bernard PS, Neklason D (2018). Chemoprevention with Cyclooxygenase and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Patients: mRNA Signatures of Duodenal Neoplasia. Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.), 11(1), 4-15.
  22. Affolter K, Gligorich K, Samadder NJ, Samowitz WS, Curtin (2017). Feasibility of Large-Scale Identification of Sessile Serrated Polyp Patients Using Electronic Records: A Utah Study. Digestive diseases and sciences, 62(6), 1455-1463.
  23. Affolter K, Samowitz W, Boynton K, Kelly E (2017). Doxycycline-induced gastrointestinal injury. Human pathology, 66, 212-215.
  24. Bice BD, Stephens MR, Georges SJ, Venancio AR, Bermant PC, Warncke AV, Affolter KE, Hidalgo JR, Angus-Hill M (2017). Environmental Enrichment Induces Pericyte and IgA-Dependent Wound Repair and Lifespan Extension in a Colon Tumor Model. Cell reports, 19(4), 760-773.

Review

  1. Genzen JR, Miller LJ, Rets AV, Affolter K (2025). Laboratory-developed tests and in vitro diagnostics: A regulatory overview for anatomic pathology. American journal of clinical pathology, 163(5), 730-743.

Case Report

  1. Samadder NJ, Valentine JF, Affolter (2017). A Rare Cause of Diarrhea and Polyposis. Gastroenterology, 153(6), 1490-1491.

Other

  1. Kinsey CG, Camolotto SA, Boespflug AM, Guillen KP, Foth M, Truong A, Schuman SS, Shea JE, Seipp MT, Yap JT, Burrell LD, Lum DH, Whisenant JR, Gilcrease GW 3rd, Cavalieri CC, Rehbein KM, Cutler SL, Affolter KE, Welm AL, Welm BE, Scaife CL, Snyder EL, McMahon (2025). Author Correction: Protective autophagy elicited by RAF'MEK'ERK inhibition suggests a treatment strategy for RAS-driven cancers. Nature medicine, 31(6), 2069.