About the Authors

Aristea Kalikaki

Affiliation Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Helen Politaki

Affiliation Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

John Souglakos

Affiliations Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Department of Medical Oncology, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Stella Apostolaki

Affiliation Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Elisavet Papadimitraki

Affiliation Department of Medical Oncology, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Nefeli Georgoulia

Affiliation Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Maria Tzardi

Affiliation Department of Pathology, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Dimitris Mavroudis

Affiliations Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Department of Medical Oncology, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Vassilis Georgoulias

Affiliations Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Department of Medical Oncology, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Alexandra Voutsina

voutsina@med.uoc.gr

Affiliation Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, University of Crete, School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Competing Interests

Assistant Professor John Souglakos currently serves as an academic editor. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AV. Performed the experiments: AK HP SA AV. Analyzed the data: AK AV. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: NG. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: AK AV. Contributed to the collection and assembly of clinical data: EP JS. Acquired and managed patients and participated clinically in sample provision and data interpretation: JS MT VG DM. Were involved in critical review and edited the manuscript: VG DM.