The number of skin cancer cases surpasses that of all other cancers combined. And while many of those skin cancers are basal cell or squamous cell, which are not generally deadly, other cases can kill. Nationally, 105,750 new cases of melanoma are expected to be diagnosed this year, a 10 percent increase over last year, Harrison said.

Detected early, the five-year survival rate for melanoma is 99 percent. Found later, it drops to 40 percent who survive.

Many of the melanoma patients are surprisingly young, Harrison said. While skin cancer used to be the province of those who worked long hours outdoors year after year, like farmers, it's showing up in many demographic groups.

The more common basal and squamous cell usually show up where people have sun exposure. With tanning beds, that could be anywhere. Melanoma can be anywhere there's a mole, including under nails, in the hair, hidden away.

Indoor tanning is big business in the United States, believed to generate more than $5 billion a year. Most salons use bulbs in the beds that emit both ultraviolet B and ultraviolet A radiation, both involved with skin cancer development and premature aging. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calls ultraviolet radiation from the sun or artificial sources like sun lamps and tanning beds a known carcinogen.

The academy wants a ban on minors using tanning devices at all, as well as a U.S. surgeon general's warning on all tanning devices. And it wants no advertising of any ultraviolet A or ultraviolet B tanning device using words such as "safe," "safe tanning," "no harmful rays" "nor adverse effect," etc.

There's irony in the quest for the perfect tan. "They're trying to look beautiful," Rowley said, and their skin turns to leather when they get older because of that sun exposure, even if they're lucky enough to avoid skin cancer.

The best protection from dangerous ultraviolet rays is to use a sun screen with a high SPF, said Harrison. But that alone won't do it, since SPF says how much ultraviolet B is blocked, but not A. So people should look for a "broad spectrum" sunscreen that contains either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, he said.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com