Author of Dana-Farber study has turned on the indoor tanning industry.

[Editor-in-Chief]

The Indoor Tanning Association points to studies that it claims show health benefits from tanning. Last week, the association's Web site featured a headline claiming that a recent Harvard study reported "UV light reduces risk of melanoma."

But the study's senior author, Dr. David Fisher of Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said Friday that the study did not show that at all. The study looked at how the formation of pigment is probably involved in the body's attempt to fight the carcinogenic effect of UV radiation, Fisher said.

A person who is able to tan is better able to fend off skin cancer than one who is not, he said.

"Neither of them is as well-off as a person who didn't go in the sun or a tanning booth to begin with," he said.

Sunlight does help the body produce vitamin D, but food and vitamin supplements can also provide sufficient levels of vitamin D, he said.

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