At least two types of skin cancer has increased among women younger than 40 years in the U.S., due to sun exposure and use of tanning, according to a study released today.

The study, published in the journal of the American Medical Association, said that the growing number of patients with this cancer shows that the youth population has ignored the warnings of the risks of tanning leather.

The number of cases has been detected in the types of the disease known as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC, for its acronym in Spanish) elementary and cell carcinoma (BCC), explained the experts.

The poor can sprout all over his body, although the most common areas of infection are exposed to the sun.

In 2000, in the U.S. were diagnosed with approximately 800,000 new cases of BCC and SCC of 200,000.

Scientists of the study, led by Leslie Christenson, indicated that skin cancer or melanoma generally occurs among people aged over 50 years.

The average of both types of skin cancer in the U.S. reached 32 cases per 100,000 women under 40 years during 2003, compared with 13 per 100,000 in the late 1970s, according to the investigation.

Specialists said that the advantage is that both the CCB as the SCC can be removed and treated more easily than other types of melanoma considered fatal.

Christenson, a specialist from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the tanning "are still accepted as a symbol of beauty" and that it is important that this message be changed by accepting that the skin can be kept healthy and beautiful without additives .

The study looked at least 500 cases of skin cancer in Olmsted County, Minnesota, where he conducts an epidemiological project.

The investigation could determine the number of cancer patients BCC did not increase among men under 40 years old, but among them there was a slight increase in the disease rate SCC.

Christenson attributes this phenomenon to the fact that men do not give much attention to skin care, as with women.

CCB explained that the cancer usually appears as a pink protuberance on the skin, whereas in the case of SCC is rough.

The analysis was carried out between 1976 and 2003, said the authors of the research, indicate that during this period, 451 were diagnosed BCC in 417 patients, and 70 incidents of the SCC in 68 patients.

Christenson said that this study shows an increase in the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer in young women and men in Olmsted County, and the need to focus efforts on preventing the disease among young adults.