Vanity compelled MaryAnn Gerber to visit tanning beds almost weekly since she turned 20. Four years later, it was that same vanity that caused her to have an unusual blemish removed — which saved her life.

Gerber had noticed a mole on her face with a pinkish-reddish hue that she couldn't hide with makeup. A plastic surgeon removed the unsightly blemish and called Gerber back a day later to inform her it was melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer.

"The reason I had tanned so much was because I was vain about my looks," said the now 28-year-old Gerber, who is currently cancer-free and blames tanning beds for the multiple mole removals in her life. "Now I have a 6-inch scar down my left cheek. When I would go out, which wasn't a lot because I was ashamed of my face, people would ask if I had been in a car accident, but nobody could guess skin cancer."

Gerber is among a growing number of women ages 18 to 35 being diagnosed with melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, and many dermatologists are pointing a finger at tanning beds for the rise.

Tanning beds have become more popular over the past 20 years, as they cast ultraviolet light in up to 20-minute increments on a person's body and provide a bronze glow — an increasingly desired Western image of beauty.

"A tan is very beautiful," said Diane Gardner, who describes her back as a connect-the-dots board from all the moles she's had removed. "It is a high school thing. I don't think white, a pale skin, is a hit for the kids. It's absolutely a pressure."

But tanning beds, which come with a disclaimer notice each tanner signs, emit UVA and UVB rays that some physicians say cause more harm than staying out in the sun, whether you burn or bronze.

Although tanning has not been directly proven to cause skin cancer, Sancy Leachman, director of the melanoma and cutaneous oncology program at Huntsman Cancer Institute, said circumstantial evidence indicates that frequent tanning leads to a higher risk of developing one form of the disease.

A study published by the American Cancer Society showed in recent trends that young women are increasingly at risk for melanoma.

Utah laws prohibit people from using tanning beds more than once every 24 hours, but Leachman said the UV light from tanning is stronger than regular sunlight.

"They always say how safe it is if you follow certain guidelines, but I was safe. I put a towel over my face. I never burned," said Gerber, who looks back on the four years she tanned regularly with regret. "I know the damage I did to my skin. Twenty minutes in the tanning bed is equivalent to three hours in the sun."