About the Authors

Michele Simbolo

Affiliations ARC-NET Research Centre, University of Verona, Verona, Italy, Department of Pathology and Diagnostics, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Marisa Gottardi

Affiliation ARC-NET Research Centre, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Vincenzo Corbo

Affiliation ARC-NET Research Centre, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Matteo Fassan

Affiliation ARC-NET Research Centre, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Andrea Mafficini

Affiliation ARC-NET Research Centre, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Giorgio Malpeli

Affiliation Department of Surgery and Oncology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Integrata di Verona, Verona, Italy

Rita T. Lawlor

Affiliation ARC-NET Research Centre, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Aldo Scarpa

aldo.scarpa@univr.it

Affiliations ARC-NET Research Centre, University of Verona, Verona, Italy, Department of Pathology and Diagnostics, University of Verona, Verona, Italy, Department of Surgery and Oncology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Integrata di Verona, Verona, Italy

Competing Interests

Co-author Aldo Scarpa is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member; 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: AS MS VC GM. Performed the experiments: MS MG GM AM. Analyzed the data: VC MF AM GM RTL AS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RTL AS. Wrote the paper: MS VC MF AM RTL AS.