Risk tanning injection could interfere with cancer diagnosis

AN injection that promises to leave you bronzed and buff can cause rapid changes in the appearance of moles, skin experts have warned.

The changes could lead to skin cancer being wrongly diagnosed or even missed, the experts warn.

Writing this week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), researchers from Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust revealed how two patients attended their dermatology clinic with rapidly changing moles and an intense tan — despite their fair skin — after injecting two types of the synthetic hormone Melanotan I and II. The drug works by increasing the levels of melanin, the body’s natural pigment that protects us from the sun, resulting in a suntan.