About the Authors

Yu-Tang Chang

Affiliations Division of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Ming-Yii Huang

Affiliations Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Center for Biomarkers and Biotech Drugs, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Yung-Sung Yeh

Affiliations Division of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Division of Trauma and Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Ching-Wen Huang

Affiliations Division of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Hsiang-Lin Tsai

Affiliations Division of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Division of General Surgery Medicine, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Tian-Lu Cheng

Affiliation Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Jaw-Yuan Wang

cy614112@ms14.hinet.net

Affiliations Division of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Center for Biomarkers and Biotech Drugs, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Research Center for Environment Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Competing Interests

The corresponding author, Professor Wang, holds a patent in the USA (Genes for diagnosing colorectal cancer: Patent No.: US 7,575,928). However, none of the authors is affiliated with companies, products in development or for market, and/or has any potential for financial gain.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization: JYW TLC. Data curation: YTC. Formal analysis: HLT. Funding acquisition: JYW. Investigation: JYW. Methodology: MYH. Project administration: MYH. Resources: JYW. Software: YSY. Supervision: JYW. Validation: CWH. Visualization: HLT. Writing – original draft: YTC. Writing – review & editing: JYW TLC.