Jan 21, 2016 07:19 AM EST By Rashmi Kalia, UniversityHerald Reporter

A US study suggests that pregnant women diagnosed with skin cancer have a higher risk of melanomas, as compared to women who are not pregnant, Latinos Health reports.

Pregnant women who are diagnosed with melanoma also face higher chances of recurring disease even after treatment. They also face higher risks of tumor spreading to other tissues and organs.

Also, pregnant women diagnosed with melanoma are five times more likely to die, as compared to those who are not pregnant.

"This study demonstrated that women who are diagnosed with melanoma during pregnancy or in the post-gestation period have higher risk melanomas," said Dr. Jeffrey Farma, co-director of the cutaneous oncology and melanoma program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, of the study, according to Reuters.

The US study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 

For the study, the researchers observed 462 women who were 49 years old or younger and who were diagnosed with melanoma between 1988 and 2012.

According to Huffington Post, 41 out of the 462 women had been diagnosed with melanoma during their pregnancy.

The researchers found that this group was five times likely to die, as compared to women who were not pregnant when diagnosed with melanoma. Also, twenty percent of this group died of skin cancer, as compared to 10 percent of the women who were not pregnant when diagnosed with melanoma.

Also, 12.5 percent of the women diagnosed with melanoma while they were pregnant had a recurrence of the cancer after treatment, as compared to just 1.4 percent of the other group, as reported by Reuters.

The researchers said that hormonal changes that occur in pregnant women, such as increased levels of estrogen might be the reason for the melanoma appearing to be more aggressive in pregnant women.

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