About the Authors

Yohei Miyagi

miyagi@gancen.asahi.yokohama.jp (YM); akira_imaizumi@ajinomoto.com (AI)

Affiliation Molecular Pathology and Genetics Division, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

Masahiko Higashiyama

Affiliation Department of Thoracic Surgery, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, Japan

Akira Gochi

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Transplant and Surgical Oncology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan

Makoto Akaike

Affiliation Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

Takashi Ishikawa

Affiliation Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan

Takeshi Miura

Affiliation Department of Urology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

Nobuhiro Saruki

Affiliation Department of Anesthesia, Gunma Prefectural Cancer Center, Ohta, Japan

Etsuro Bando

Affiliation Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Prefectural Cancer Center, Nagaizumi, Japan

Hideki Kimura

Affiliation Division of Thoracic Diseases, Chiba Prefectural Cancer Center, Chiba, Japan

Fumio Imamura

Affiliation Department of Pulmonary Oncology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, Japan

Masatoshi Moriyama

Affiliation Department of Urology, Yokohama Municipal Citizen's Hospital, Yokohama, Japan

Ichiro Ikeda

Affiliation Department of Urology, Yokohama Minami Kyosai Hospital, Yokohama, Japan

Akihiko Chiba

Affiliation Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

Fumihiro Oshita

Affiliation Department of Thoracic Oncology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

Akira Imaizumi

miyagi@gancen.asahi.yokohama.jp (YM); akira_imaizumi@ajinomoto.com (AI)

Affiliation Institute for Innovation, Ajinomoto, Co., Inc., Kawasaki, Japan

Hiroshi Yamamoto

Affiliation Institute for Innovation, Ajinomoto, Co., Inc., Kawasaki, Japan

Hiroshi Miyano

Affiliation Institute for Innovation, Ajinomoto, Co., Inc., Kawasaki, Japan

Katsuhisa Horimoto

Affiliation Computational Biology Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

Osamu Tochikubo

Affiliation Kanagawa Health Service Association, Yokohama, Japan

Toru Mitsushima

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, Kameda Medical Center Makuhari, Chiba, Japan

Minoru Yamakado

Affiliation Center for Multiphasic Health Testing and Services, Mitsui Memorial Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Naoyuki Okamoto

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: Dr. Horimoto, Dr. Tochikubo, Dr. Yamakado, and Dr. Okamoto have been consultants for Ajinomoto, Co., Inc. and receive consultancy fees from Ajinomoto, Co., Inc. Dr. Imaizumi, Dr. Yamamoto, and Dr. Miyano are employees of Ajinomoto, Co., Inc. Dr. Miyagi, Dr. Higashiyama, Dr. Gochi, Dr. Akaike, Dr. Ishikawa, Dr. Miura, Dr. Saruki, Dr. Bando, Dr. Kimura, Dr. Imamura, Dr. Moriyama, Dr. Ikeda, Dr. Chiba, Dr. Oshita, Dr. Tochikubo, Dr. Mitsushima, Dr. Yamakado, and Dr. Okamoto received research grants from Ajinomoto, Co., Inc. Dr. Higashiyama, Dr. Imamura, Dr. Imaizumi, and Dr. Okamoto have applied for patents for plasma amino-acid profiling using multivariate analysis as a diagnostic tool for lung cancer and cancers (WO2008/016111 and WO2009/110517), Dr. Gochi, Dr. Imaizumi, and Dr. Yamamoto have applied for patents for plasma amino-acid profiling using multivariate analysis as a diagnostic tool for gastric cancer (WO2009/099005), Dr. Imaizumi and Dr. Okamoto have applied for patents for plasma amino-acid profiling using multivariate analysis as a diagnostic tool for colorectal cancer (WO2008/075663), Dr. Imaizumi and Dr. Okamoto have applied for patents for plasma amino-acid profiling using multivariate analysis as a diagnostic tool for breast cancer (WO2008/075662), Dr. Miyagi, Dr. Miura, Dr. Imaizumi, Dr. Yamamoto, and Dr. Okamoto have applied for patents for plasma amino-acid profiling using multivariate analysis as a diagnostic tool for prostate cancer (WO2009/154297), and Dr. Miyano has applied for patents for plasma amino acid measurement systems(WO2003/069328 and WO2005/116629). This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLoS One policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: YM HY MY NO. Performed the experiments: MH AG MA TI T. Miura NS EB HK FI MM II AC FO HM OT T. Mitsushima MY NO. Analyzed the data: YM AI KH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: HM. Wrote the paper: YM AI KH.