Cell lines and culture

The FaDu cell line was used as the HSCC model and was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection. FaDu cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 (1:1; Gibco; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS; Biological Industries). The cells were incubated at 37°C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO₂. Cisplatin was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich; Merck KGaA (cat. no. P4394) and dissolved in 0.9% sodium chloride solution to obtain a 2-µM stock solution.