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TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Cases of melanoma in the United States increased 2% a year between 2005 and 2015, and will likely rise from 96,000 cases in 2019 to 151,000 cases in 2030 if the trend continues, a new study says.

The researchers noted that most cases of melanoma — the deadliest type of skin cancer — in the United States are linked with ultraviolet radiation exposure from “excessive sun exposure and indoor tanning,” CNN reported.

UV exposure accounted for 91% of all melanoma cases diagnosed in the United States from 2011 to 2015, and 94% of melanoma cases occurred in non-Hispanic whites, according to the study.

“High indoor tanning prevalence among teen girls in the late 1990s is likely a contributing factor,” to the rising number of melanoma cases, said study author Dr. Farhad Islami, a cancer epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, CNN reported.

States with the highest UV-attributable incidence rates among all residents were: Utah, 36.3 cases per 100,000; Vermont, 31.1 per 100,000; Delaware, 28.2 per 100,000; Minnesota, 27.6 per 100,000; New Hampshire, 27.2 per 100,000; Oregon, 25.5 per 100,000; Idaho, 25.4 per 100,000; Georgia, 24.2 per 100,000; Washington, 23.9 per 100,000; Montana, 23.9 per 100,000.

“These variations likely reflect a combination of state differences in the strength of solar UV radiation, regular or intermittent participation in outdoor activities [even intermittent sun exposure increases melanoma risk], sun protection, indoor tanning and early detection activities,” the authors wrote, CNN reported.

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