To evaluate the impact of this event on the modulation of tumour microenvironment, mice were subcutaneously injected with B16-W6_pSIL10 cells, a loss-of-function model of A-SMase obtained by the knock-down of A-SMase in the parental cell line B16-F1 [18]; we then analysed the in vivo behaviour of the established skin melanoma in terms of cytokine expression and tumour-infiltrating immune cells. The gene discussed is SMPD1; the disease is cutaneous melanoma.