They may feel tender. They can grow quite fast - especially those on the lip and ear. Melanocytes are the melanin -producing cells and they are scattered along the bottom of the epidermis. Every basal cell is attached to a melanocyte. There is one melanocyte per 10 to 20 basal cells.
Melanin produced in the melanocytes is delivered to the basal skin cells.
Paler-skinned people do not have fewer melanocytes than black people, but simply produce less melanin and a different kind of melanin per melanocyte. Ultraviolet radiation stimulates the enzyme that makes melanin. Melanomas are the deadliest skin cancers of all. They account for only about 5 per cent of cases but cause 80 per cent of skin cancer deaths. Melanomas can occur anywhere on the body.