Indoor tanning, even without burning, increases the risk of melanoma

Melanoma is a dangerous type of skin cancer. It can be fatal if not treated in time.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/oupu-ite052114.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 28-May-2014
Contact: Zachary Rathner
Oxford University Press USA
Indoor tanning, even without burning, increases the risk of melanoma

People sometimes use indoor tanning in the belief that this will prevent burns when they tan outdoors. However, indoor tanning raises the risk of developing melanoma even if a person has never had burns from either indoor or outdoor tanning, according to a study published May 29 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

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they found that melanoma patients reporting zero lifetime burns were nearly four times more likely to be indoor tanners than control subjects. In addition, melanoma patients with zero sunburns reported having started tanning indoors at younger ages and used indoor tanning over more years than other patients who had experienced sunburn, suggesting that greater total exposure contributed to the findings.