Figure 1b shows representative pictures of immunohistochemical staining for Atg7 and Beclin-1 on mucosa, adenoma and carcinoma cores of the utilized TMA. In order to evaluate whether the expression levels of key autophagic proteins correlate with the amount of Atg7, tissue spots were assigned to three groups (Atg7 low: ≤4; medium: ≤8; high: >8), based on their IHC score. Neither for LC3b nor for p62 or Beclin-1 a significant dependence on Atg7 expression was found (Figure S2a). This evidence concerns the gene ATG7 and adenoma.