02/05/13

Indoor Tanning and Skin Cancer Risk

A recent larger study revealed that a single ultraviolet (UV) tanning session increases tanners' risk of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) by 67 percent and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) by 20 percent. Close to 171,000, or about 5 percent, of the 3.5 million cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer diagnosed in the US every year can be attributed to indoor tanning. Investigators also determined that one indoor tanning session raises tanners' risk of melanoma by 20 percent. In 2012, melanoma killed around 9,180 people in the US.