Regular skin checkups to reduce the incidence of this deadly skin cancer must focus on those at high risk. Diagnosing melanoma early is critical to saving lives.

This study adds a history of the relatively favorable non-melanoma skin cancer -- in and of itself -- to the list of known risk factors for melanoma in both sun lovers and shade dwellers alike.

This skin surveillance imperative may serve to be lifesaving in predisposed women.

Kids who are sunburned early on in life have a greater risk of developing cancer in general of the skin.

Although we have refined the common wisdom that excess sun exposure is always associated with increased risk of skin cancer, the take-home message for the public is still the same - limit sun exposure and use a sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays.

Our study further defines melanoma risk in post-menopausal women and, it is hoped, will sensitize the medical community to this risk, serving as a catalyst for development of new routines of follow-up and patient assessment to facilitate earlier detection of melanoma.