2.1. Cell lines

Human gastric carcinoma cell line GTL‐16 was provided by P. Comoglio (Medical School University of Torino, Italy), nonsmall cell lung cancer cell line EBC‐1 by S. Giordano (University of Torino, Torino, Italy), and pharyngeal carcinoma line Detroit 562 was purchased from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA). GTL‐16 and EBC‐1 cells were cultured in RPMI (Gibco, Invitrogen, Reinach, Switzerland) supplemented with 5% and 10% FCS (Sigma‐Aldrich Inc., St. Louis, Missouri, USA), respectively, and an antibiotic/antimycotic solution (penicillin 100U·mL⁻¹, streptomycin sulfate 100U·mL⁻¹, amphotericin B as fungizone 0.25µg·mL⁻¹; Gibco). Detroit 562 cells were maintained in MEM (Sigma‐Aldrich) supplemented with 10% FCS, nonessential amino acid solution (1% vol./vol.; Sigma‐Aldrich), and antibiotic/antimycotic solution.