It has become fashionable for people to build up a tan by using sunbeds (especially young women).

Skin cancer can be fatal if it is not detected and treated early enough.

Professor Antony Young (King's College, London, UK) has been reviewing all recent studies that link sunbed use to malignant melanoma.

Malignant melanoma is a cancer of the skin cells (melanocytes), the cells that are responsible for tanning. This type of cancer is different from other cancer in that it can appear in younger people. Most cancers tend to appear in late middle age or later.

In the UK, malignant melanoma is the third most common cancer in women under the age of 35. During the period 1995-2000 malignant melanoma increase by 24% in the UK.

Sunbeds blast the skin with UVB and UVA radiation (found in the sun's ultraviolet rays). UVB and UVA radiation is known to damage the skin (its genetic information and immunity). The result of this damage is can be cancer.

In Professor Young's review (Pigment Cell Research), the evidence is becoming more compelling that there really is a link between sunbed use and malignant melanoma.

This comes as no surprise to many experts. Many have said that the sun's UVR is known as the main cause of malignant melanoma (and sunbeds blast the skin with them).