Frequent Tanning Bed Use May Lead to Melanoma

A new study appearing in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention indicates that people who regularly use tanning beds may double or triple their risk of developing melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. The risk increased for those who frequently tanned. The study involved roughly 1,200 melanoma patients in Minnesota and a control group with no cancer. Sixty-three percent of the patients with melanoma participating in the study had tanned indoors at least one time, whereas only 51% of the cancer-free group had. According to information from the National Cancer Institute, nearly 8,000 people died from melanoma in 2009 and nearly 70,000 people were diagnosed with it.