MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A possible link between melanoma and a gene involved in vitamin D metabolism has been identified by Italian researchers.

They examined existing scientific literature on the association between melanoma (the most serious type of skin cancer) and common variants of the vitamin D receptor gene Bsml, and concluded that people with certain variants of the gene may be at increased risk for melanoma.

The University of Padova team said more research is needed to confirm this link between the gene variants and melanoma.

People often look at someone who has a sun kissed glow and think of them as looking fit, healthy and even slim.

A tanning salon chain in my town ran the slogan "because tanned fat looks better!" - encouraging people of all shapes and sizes to get a tan, rather than advising those heavier folks among us to keep skin cancer and premature aging off their health resume.

Summer is fading away for many of us and like many of us, I am clinging on to my daily moisturiser that also gives me a light, all-over than throughout winter. As much as I want to be pale-and-interesting, I actually much prefer a slight glow for myself, of the non-orange variety.

FRIDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) -- A chemically modified form of interferon improves the chances that melanoma patients will survive and have no recurrence of the skin cancer, according to a new report.

Dutch researchers, who published their findings in this week's edition of The Lancet, said their study found long-term treatment with pegylated IFNa2b cut the risk of a recurrence by 15 percent over a four-year period.

A study published in the July 10 online edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology states that the number of melanoma cases among women has increased 50% between 1980 and 2004, while the rates for men leveled off. The study was conducted on men and women aged 15-39 and suggests that there has been no significant result of skin cancer education upon young women.

TUESDAY, July 8 (HealthDay News) -- The thicker the skin cancer tumor, the more likely it will spread or reoccur, according to a newly published study.

German research in the August edition of The Lancet Oncology, found that cutaneous squamous-cell carcinomas of increased tumor thickness were almost five times more likely to spread, compared to thinner lesions.

ATLANTA - An Oregon man, given less than a year to live, had a complete remission of advanced deadly skin cancer after an experimental treatment that revved up his immune system to fight the tumors.

The 52-year-old patient's dramatic turnaround was the only success in a small study, leading doctors to be cautious in their enthusiasm. However, the treatment reported in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is being counted as the latest in a small series of successes involving immune-priming treatments against deadly skin cancers.