Dr. Nigar Aliyeva

Dr. Nigar Aliyeva is a consultant medical oncologist at the National Oncology Center in Baku — Azerbaijan's principal cancer institution providing comprehensive oncology services to the country's population. With 16 years of oncology practice, Dr. Aliyeva is one of Azerbaijan's leading medical oncologists, applying ESMO-standard cancer treatment protocols to the most prevalent malignancies in Azerbaijan: breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, and lung cancer.

Azerbaijan's cancer care system has been developing and is increasingly offering access to targeted therapies and immunotherapy through national health programs, and Dr. Aliyeva is an active advocate for expanding patient access to novel oncology treatments. She works within the National Oncology Center's multidisciplinary tumor board, coordinating with surgical and radiation oncology for integrated cancer management.

Her breast oncology practice applies molecular profiling — hormone receptor status, HER2 testing, and Ki-67 — to guide systemic therapy decisions from neoadjuvant to metastatic contexts. For gastrointestinal cancers, she manages colorectal and gastric cancer with platinum-based and fluoropyrimidine regimens, applying RAS/BRAF and HER2 testing where available for treatment selection.

Dr. Aliyeva trained in the Czech Republic through an ESMO educational exchange and holds ESMO certification. She communicates in Azerbaijani, Russian, and English.

Dr. Aliyeva obtained her MD from Azerbaijan Medical University in Baku — the country's principal medical institution — and completed her Oncology residency at the National Oncology Center of Azerbaijan, receiving comprehensive training in medical oncology across the most prevalent cancer types in the Azerbaijani population.

She undertook a Medical Oncology Fellowship at the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute in Brno, Czech Republic — one of Eastern Europe's leading and most comprehensive oncology centres — through the ESMO East fellowship programme. This fellowship broadened her exposure to evidence-based oncology protocols, multidisciplinary tumor board processes, and clinical trial participation. She holds a PhD in Oncology from Azerbaijan Medical University and the ESMO certification, maintaining active ESMO membership and staying current with evolving international cancer medicine.

Dr. Aliyeva's oncology practice covers the major solid tumor types and lymphoma. In breast cancer, she prescribes neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy regimens, trastuzumab for HER2-positive disease, CDK4/6 inhibitors for hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, and PARP inhibitors for BRCA-mutated disease. For colorectal cancer, she manages FOLFOX and FOLFIRI with bevacizumab and cetuximab/panitumumab for RAS wild-type patients. For gastric cancer, she manages HER2-positive disease with trastuzumab and platinum-fluoropyrimidine combinations. She prescribes pembrolizumab for MSI-high solid tumors and manages lung cancer with targeted and immunotherapy agents. She performs bone marrow biopsies and administers and monitors chemotherapy toxicity.

Dr. Aliyeva has published in the Azerbaijan Medical Journal on breast cancer epidemiology and treatment outcomes in Azerbaijan. She participates in the ESMO East network and the Azerbaijan Society of Clinical Oncology activities. She presents at the national oncology conference in Baku and ESMO Eastern Europe regional meetings.

The National Oncology Center serves Azerbaijan's domestic population as well as patients from across the South Caucasus and Central Asian region who travel to Baku for cancer treatment. Dr. Aliyeva consults in Azerbaijani, Russian, and English — making her accessible to patients from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia seeking oncological assessment.

Video consultations are available for oncology second opinions, pathology report review, and treatment plan evaluation for patients from across the region. She can review molecular testing results (hormone receptor, HER2, MSI, RAS/BRAF) and imaging to provide independent oncological assessment. Patients from neighboring countries who prefer to receive chemotherapy or targeted therapy in Baku at lower cost than in private Russian or Turkish oncology centres may consult Dr. Aliyeva about the feasibility of treatment in Baku.

Dr. Aliyeva has been recognized by the Azerbaijan Society of Clinical Oncology for her outstanding contributions to breast cancer care and her leadership in implementing ESMO-standard treatment protocols at the National Oncology Center — raising the quality of systemic cancer therapy available to Azerbaijani patients.

She serves on the National Oncology Center's multidisciplinary tumor board, contributing to collegial treatment decision-making across oncology, surgery, and radiation departments. She serves on the Azerbaijan Ministry of Health oncology protocols committee, helping to shape national cancer treatment guidelines. She participates in ESMO East network activities and contributes to regional oncology education in the South Caucasus.