During malignant melanoma (MM) progression including incipient metastasis, neoplastic cells follow some specific migration\npaths inside the skin. In particular, they progress along the dermoepidermal basement membrane, the hair follicles, the sweat\ngland apparatus, nerves, and the near perivascular space. These features evoke the thigmotropism phenomenon defined as a\ncontact-sensing growth of cells. This process is likely connected to modulation in cell tensegrity (control of the cell shape). These\nspecifically located paucicellular aggregates of MM cells do not appear to be involved in the tumorigenic growth phase, but rather\nthey participate in the so-called ââ?¬Å?accretiveââ?¬Â growth model. These MM cell collections are often part of the primary neoplasm, but\nthey may, however, correspond to MM micrometastases and predict further local overt metastasis spread.
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