Tanning bed use is a well-recognized risk factor for melanoma , yet the biological mechanisms linking indoor tanning to melanomagenesis have remained unclear. To address this, researchers examined melanoma risk patterns and melanocyte mutagenesis in 2,932 individuals with a history of tanning bed use and 2,925 individuals with no such exposure. Melanoma was diagnosed in 5.1% of tanning bed users compared with 2.1% of nonusers. After adjustment for key risk factors, indoor tanning was associated with a significantly higher risk of melanoma (odds ratio 2.85).
Notably, melanomas in tanning bed users more frequently arose at body sites with low cumulative sun damage than in nonusers (76.1% versus 61.2%). At the molecular leve l, melanocytes from tanning bed users showed nearly a twofold increase in mutation burden compared with control donors. Together, these findings support a mechanistic…
