Northwestern Medicine study finds tanning bed use triples risk of melanoma

Using tanning beds can more than triple your risk of developing melanoma and cause DNA damage across nearly the entire surface of the skin, according to a new study partially conducted by Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.

The research, a collaboration between Northwestern Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco, began after doctors noticed an unusually high incidence of women under the age of 50 being diagnosed with skin cancer multiple times.

Dr. Pedram Gerami, a skin cancer research professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and his team compared approximately 3,000 people who used tanning beds with a control group of 3,000 individuals of similar ages who had no history of indoor tanning.

The study involved single-cell DNA sequencing of melanocytes, which are the pigment-producing skin cells where melanoma originates. Researchers sequenced a total of 182 melanocytes.

The results showed that skin cells from tanning bed users had almost twice as many mutations as those from the control group. Furthermore, these cells were more likely to have mutations associated with melanoma.

The research team discovered that 5.1% of tanning bed users were diagnosed with melanoma, compared to only 2.1% of those who had never used them. Even after accounting for factors such as age, sex, sunburn history, and family history, tanning bed use was still linked to a 2.85-fold increase in melanoma risk, according to Northwestern.

Researchers also observed that tanning bed users were more prone to developing melanoma on parts of their bodies typically covered from the sun, such as the lower back and buttocks. This finding suggests that tanning beds may cause more extensive DNA damage than sun exposure.

Dr. Gerami noted that while outdoor sun exposure tends to damage about 20% of a person's skin the most, tanning beds can cause dangerous mutations across the entire skin surface.

Gerami is advocating for policy changes, suggesting that indoor tanning should be made illegal for minors "at the very least."

"What I'm hearing from most of my patients is that this exposure started at a time when they were young, vulnerable, didn't have the same level of knowledge and education that they did as adults," Gerami stated, "and they feel wronged by the industry, and they regret the mistakes of their youth."

Gerami also believes tanning beds should carry warning labels similar to those found on cigarette packages.

He advises that individuals who tanned frequently earlier in life should undergo a full-body skin exam by a dermatologist to determine if they require regular skin checks.

The study highlights that approximately 11,000 people in the United States die from melanoma each year.