Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2015) 130: 176
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2015-15176-3

Review

Morphogenesis of early stage melanoma

¹ Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005, Paris, France
² Institut Universitaire de Cancérologie, Faculté de médecine, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, 91 Bd de l’Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France

^* e-mail: benamar@lps.ens.fr

Received: 15 June 2015
Revised: 23 July 2015
Accepted: 29 July 2015
Published online: 28 August 2015

Abstract

Melanoma early detection is possible by simple skin examination and can insure a high survival probability when successful. However it requires efficient methods for identifying malignant lesions from common moles. This paper provides an overview first of the biological and physical mechanisms controlling melanoma early evolution, and then of the clinical tools available today for detecting melanoma in vivo at an early stage. It highlights the lack of diagnosis methods rationally linking macroscopic observables to the microscopic properties of the tissue, which define the malignancy of the tumor. The possible inputs of multiscale models for improving these methods are shortly discussed.