SKANEATELES -- Dr. Jeffrey LaDuca is all too familiar with treating skin cancer in young female patients.

"In the last year I've diagnosed probably seven melanomas in women under 25 years old." said LaDuca.

And those numbers are part of a nationwide trend.

A new study shows that in 1980, young women saw 9.4 new cases of melanoma per 100,000 people.

By 2004, that number jumped to 13.9. That's an increase of about 50 percent.

"For a lot of people, they just don't take it seriously. They just don't think that skin cancer is that big of a deal," said LaDuca.

LaDuca says a possible explanation for the jump is the number of young women headed to tanning booths.

And he would know. His office building used to be a tanning salon.

He says our culture has idealized the importance of having a tan.

"Why is it a nice tan? Why isn't it a bad tan? It's just pop culture to think that it's a nice tan," he said.

If you do want to get a glow for the summer, Dr. LaDuca suggests doing it the safe way by getting a spray-on tan. They look natural, and they won't harm your skin.

"Spray Tanning gives you the instant look of being tan without the harmful effects of the U-V rays, and it just gives you a real healthy glow all over," said Angela Antonello, owner of Icons Airbrush Tanning, which is within Concepts in Hair.

Antonello has spray tanned about 700 people, but says most of her regular clients are middle-aged women.

"We're really trying to promote it in the teen market. We do a lot of teens during prom, but yet they still want to go lay in the beds," she said.

And it's that mindset that could lead to an even larger jump in melanoma cases in years to come.

Spray tanning costs about the same as going to a tanning booth, especially if you buy a package.

And when it's applied properly, you can't tell the difference between a real tan and a spray on.