About the Authors

Karim Aghcheli

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Haji-Amin Marjani

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Dariush Nasrollahzadeh

Affiliations Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Farhad Islami

Affiliations Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France

Ramin Shakeri

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Masoud Sotoudeh

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Behnoush Abedi-Ardekani

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Mohammad-Reza Ghavamnasiri

Affiliation Department of Oncology, Omid Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Ezzatollah Razaei

Affiliation Department of Oncology, Omid Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Elias Khalilipour

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Samira Mohtashami

Affiliation Department of Oncology, Omid Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Yasha Makhdoomi

Affiliation Department of Oncology, Omid Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Rabea Rajabzadeh

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Shahin Merat

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Rasoul Sotoudehmanesh

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Shahryar Semnani

Affiliation Golestan Research Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran

Reza Malekzadeh

malek@ams.ac.ir

Affiliation Digestive Disease Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KA H-AM DN FI R. Shakeri RM. Performed the experiments: KA DN FI B-AA M-RG ER EK SM YM RR. Analyzed the data: DN FI. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SM R. Sotoudehmanesh SS RM. Wrote the paper: KA H-AM DN FI RM. Read and commented on the manuscript and approved the final version: KA H-AM DN FI R. Shakeri MS B-AA M-RG ER EK SM YM RR SM R. Sotoudehmanesh SS RM.