Melanoma 'doubles risk of new cancer'

People who have been treated for a melanoma have more than twice the risk of developing another form of cancer, according to a study published on Wednesday.

Lifestyle could play a key role in such cancers, including spending too long in the sun but also smoking and being overweight, it said.

Researchers at Queen's University in Belfast studied almost 21,000 people who had been treated for non-melanoma skin cancer, and over 1,800 who had had melanoma, to see which went on to develop a second primary cancer.

They compared the findings with cancer in people with no history of skin cancer.

A melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer, with 9,500 cases diagnosed each year and almost 2,000 deaths.