Tanning Beds Linked to Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
Note: Eleni Linos, MD, senior author of this study, received a KL2 Career Development Award in 2011. The KL2 program supports junior faculty who are building careers in clinical and translational research by providing salary support, research funds, and a rich academically invigorating and supportive environment that includes many of the top junior faculty at UCSF.
Indoor tanning beds can cause non-melanoma skin cancer — and the risk is greater the earlier one starts tanning, according to a new analysis led by UCSF.
Indoor tanning is already an established risk factor for malignant melanoma, the less common but deadliest form of skin cancer. Now, the new study confirms that indoor tanning significantly increases the risk of non-melanoma skin cancers, the most common human skin cancers.
The numbers are striking — hundreds of thousands of cancers each year are attributed to tanning beds.Eleni Linos, MD, DrPH
In the most extensive examination of published findings on the subject, the researchers estimate that indoor tanning is responsible for more than 170,000 new cases annually of non-melanoma skin cancers in the United States — and many more worldwide.
Young people who patronize tanning salons before age 25 have a significantly higher risk of developing basal cell carcinomas compared to those who never use the popular tanning booths, the researchers reported.
The study was published online Tuesday in BMJ, the British general medical journal.
Read more at UCSF.edu
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