What Are the Risk Factors for Skin Cancer?

People with certain risk factors are more likely than others to develop skin cancer. Risk factors vary for different types of skin cancer, but some general risk factors are having—

• A lighter natural skin color.
• Family history of skin cancer.
• A personal history of skin cancer.
• Exposure to the sun through work and play.
• A history of sunburns, especially early in life.
• A history of indoor tanning.
• Skin that burns, freckles, reddens easily, or becomes painful in the sun.
• Blue or green eyes.
• Blond or red hair.
• Certain types and a large number of moles.

Tanning and Burning

Ultraviolet (UV) rays come from the sun or from indoor tanning (using a tanning bed, booth, or sunlamp to get tan). When UV rays reach the skin’s inner layer, the skin makes more melanin. Melanin is the pigment that colors the skin. It moves toward the outer layers of the skin and becomes visible as a tan.

A tan does not indicate good health. A tan is a response to injury, because skin cells signal that they have been hurt by UV rays by producing more pigment.

People burn or tan depending on their skin type, the time of year, and how long they are exposed to UV rays. The six types of skin, based on how likely it is to tan or burn, are—

1. Always burns, never tans.
2. Burns easily, tans minimally.
3. Burns moderately, tans gradually to light brown.
4. Burns minimally, always tans well to moderately brown.
5. Rarely burns, tans profusely to dark.
6. Never burns, deeply pigmented, least sensitive.

Although everyone’s skin can be damaged by UV exposure, people with skin types I and II are at the highest risk.