MODEL RELEASED. Skin cancer. Face of a male albino patient with a large basal cell carcinoma (BCC) on his cheek and ear. A BCC is the uncontrolled and malignant proliferation of basal cells found at the base of the skin. It is also called a rodent ulcer. BCC is the most common form of skin cancer, and usually appears on the face because that area is exposed to the sunlight's ultraviolet (UV) rays that cause this cancer. As albinos lack the skin pigmentation that protects the skin from UV rays, they are particularly vulnerable to this form of skin cancer. A BCC grows slowly, but if untreated by surgical excision it can grow to a large size. Photographed in Africa.