ECM degradation is critical for the invasion of carcinomas surrounded by dense crosslinked BMs.37 Growing evidence suggest that carcinoma cells do not entirely digest the BM, but rather make small perforations that are the result of efficient invadopodial activity.38, 39 Podoplanin is highly upregulated at the early stages of SCC progression17, 20, 22, 24 and in physiopathological situations involving tissue remodelling.17, 18 In all these situations, podoplanin expression is induced in the basal layer of keratinocytes that are in close contact with the BM. This evidence concerns the gene PDPN and carcinoma.