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Indoor tanning without burning does not eliminate melanoma risk

Indoor tanning is a risk factor for melanoma even in individuals who have never experienced sunburn from indoor tanning or outdoor sun exposure, study results have shown.

The population-based, case control study included 1,852 participants between the ages of 25 and 59 who had either never tanned indoors or who had tanned indoors but never burned.

Participants were separated into a case group of those diagnosed with melanoma (n = 906) and a control group of those without melanoma (n = 946).

Researchers collected information on sun exposure, indoor tanning use, family history of melanoma and lifetime sunscreen calculations through phone interviews.

Among the participants from both groups, 56.8% reported five or more lifetime sunburns; only 3.5% reported never burning from the sun.

The researchers found that risk for melanoma increased across all sunburn categories among participants who reported tanning indoors without burning compared with those who had never tanned indoors, including those who reported having never experienced sunburn.

Disclosures: The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (5R01CA106807 and P30 CA77598) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000114).