Everyone likes to have a tanned body. But the desire to have tanned body is leading many young women in the lap of cancer. Melanoma, the deadliest form of cancer is result of  extreme exposure to sunlight or ultraviolet rays. The early signs of this cancer are pigmented lesions.

The research led by Mark Purdue, of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics studied the data regarding the incidences of melanoma in men and women, 15 to 39 years of age.

Mark Purdue said "We observed a 50 percent increase in the annual incidence of melanoma among young adult Caucasian women between 1980 and 2004."

The finding that worried the researchers most was that increasing trend for thicker and later-stage melanomas. The only silver lining to this dark cloud was that the findings that the numbers of cases in men are not increasing like women.

Researchers felt that young people should consider the importance of latest findings. They should all the preventive measures against melanomas like using sunscreens with UVA. The results of these findings echo the result of the large scale research done in the same field. But the reasons between the difference in number due to difference in sex are not clear.