Medscape (by Johnson) reports, “Indoor tanning might be a more reliable predictor of invasive cutaneous melanoma than outdoor sunburns, according to a study presented…at the American Academy of Dermatology 70th Annual Meeting.” The new findings are based on the Minnesota Skin Health Study, and “involved 1167 cases diagnosed from 2004 to 2007 and 1101 control subjects.” The study identified “4 UV risk factors…significantly associated with melanoma: outdoor lifetime sunburns, indoor tanning, frequency of indoor tanning, and burns from indoor tanning (P < .0001 for all).” Yet after controlling for “personal risk factors (age, sex, family history, and phenotypic factors), outdoor lifetime sunburns became much less significant (P = .8) than indoor tanning frequency (P = .026).” Survey Finds Young Women Know Risks Of Indoor Tanning, But Still Do It.WebMD (by Laino) reports on a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology finding that “most young women know that indoor tanning raises the risk of skin cancer, but two-thirds of sorority members at a Midwestern university used tanning beds in the past year, and 6% used them every week, a new survey shows.” Also, “virtually all the young women (96%) planned to sunbathe the following year, but only 60% planned to use sunscreen or wear protective clothing.” This despite the fact that “one-third reported a family history of skin cancer.” |