| Contents |
| Current diagnostic methods for skin cancers are based on some
morphological characteristics of the pigmented skin lesions, including the
geometry of their contour. We develop a model for the early growth of
melanoma accounting for the biomechanical characteristics of the tumour
micro-environment as well as the spatial distribution of tumour cells and
diffusing molecules in a three-dimensional multiphase model. It
incorporates general cell-to-cell mechanical interactions, a dependence of
cell proliferation on contact inhibition, as well as a local diffusion of nutrients and inhibiting molecules. We derive a 2D model in a lubrication limit accounting for the thin geometry of the epidermis. Comparing the theoretical results with a large amount of clinical data we show that our predictions describe accurately both the morphology of melanoma observed
in vivo and its variations with the tumour growth rate. We also explain the presence of microstructures (dots,nests) sparsely distributed within the tumour lesion. Finally, taking into account the skin structure in glabrous parts allows to recover the patterns in acral melanoma or naevi and I will discuss the biological implications that we can deduce from
modelling such as cancer stem cells localization and senescence. |
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