If a woman is diagnosed with Melanoma, a skin cancer, during pregnancy, it’s a sign that there is an immediate need to visit dermatologist. Even a patient of Melanoma would find his disease intensifying rapidly, if chooses to go pregnant. The finding was published, as a warning, online in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology on January 20.

The study was carried out by Dr. Brian Gastman, a plastic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic and author of the study on 462 women diagnosed with Melanoma between 1988 and 2012.The women aged 49 or younger. The researchers studied the participants’ health for more than two years. The study, aimed to find connection between Melanoma and pregnancy, found that women suffering from Melanoma during pregnancy were at more risk than others.

As per the records of study, 41 women were diagnosed with melanoma while they were pregnant or within one year of the time they gave birth. Women who died from Melanoma were 20% of all in group and 10 % of the women who were not pregnant around the time of diagnose. This rate is five times higher than the rate of non-pregnant women. Pregnant women with melanoma were also seven times more likely to have their cancer spread and nine times more likely to have a recurrence of their cancer in 7.5 years, according to the research.

Melanoma rates doubled in the United States between 1982 and 2011. "When we looked at our data, we were shocked" to see the significantly higher rates of death, metastasis and recurrence of the cancer among pregnant women”, said Dr. Brian Gastman. This should not be misunderstood as that all pregnant women are at risk of contracting the cancer. Unaware of actual cause of disease intensifying among pregnant women, the researchers think hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy could be the reason.