A 68-year-old patient presents to a

dermatologist. He is bothered by a small, light-coloured growth near his left

eye. The dermatologist is rightly concerned that it is a basal cell carcinoma,

which is confirmed by the pathologist after the tumour is removed. Basal cell

carcinoma is a skin tumour arising from keratinocytes of the stratum basale.

This tumor combines some features of both malignant and benign tumours. Which

statement about normal cells of stratum basale is true?