Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other organs in the body, unlike basal cell carcinoma which rarely leaves the site.
Studying 14,000 women for 10 years, researchers at the University of Oslo found that participants who wore at least SPF 15 cut their risk of developing cancer by a third.
Intriguingly, there was some conflicting evidence: some people who never applied sunscreen had a lower risk of skin cancer than those who wore low-factor sunscreen.
The researchers offered two main reasons for this paradox.
