This finding suggests a potential link between quiescent cells, SPARC, and the immunosuppressive microenvironment that can contribute to melanoma progression, similarly to GPNMB (Arosarena et al, 2018; Oyewumi et al, 2016; Fiorentini et al, 2014; Chen et al, 2012; Morrissey et al, 2016). Here, GPNMB is linked to melanoma.