Melanoma risk greatly increased for women who get serious sunburns before age 20

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

A recent study found that white females who received five or more blistering sunburns before the age of 20 increased their risk of later developing melanoma by 80 percent. A significantly increased risk of increased risk for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was also seen. Oddly, however, those that received serious sunburns later in life did not demonstrate a similarly increased risk of melanoma, which seems to indicate that early-life sun exposure is a much greater factor and worth attention.