A new study suggests that consistent use of sunscreen in childhood could prevent the risk of developing melanoma as an adult.

Researchers at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute discovered through a natural animal study that the incidence of malignant melanoma can be significantly reduced in adulthood when sunscreen is used on a consistent basis starting in infancy.

The research was driven by the notion that the most aggressive type of skin cancer has continued to increase significantly over the past years, despite the rise in the use of sunscreen. In fact, over 75,000 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Melanoma kills approximately 8,790 people in the U.S. every year, a staggering figure according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Senior author John L. VandeBerg, Ph.D., was driven by all the unanswered questions regarding the effectiveness of sunscreen. Until recently, no natural animal model of melanoma caused by UV light has existed.

“While sunscreen is highly effective in preventing sunburn, this paradox has led some to question whether sunscreen is effective in preventing melanoma caused by ultraviolet (UV) light. It has been suggested that sunscreen enables people to receive more UV exposure without becoming sunburned, and that increased exposure to UV light has led to an increasing incidence of melanoma,” said VandeBerg in a statement.

The researchers used the gray short-tailed opossum as a model, and tested the ability of a lotion with SPF15 sunscreen to prevent melanoma caused by UV. What they discovered is that the use of sunscreen on infant opossums resulted in a 10-fold reduction of melanoma lesions compared to infant opossums receiving no sunscreen. These opossums were exposed to low levels of UV light that were not strong enough to cause a sunburn.

They concluded that the skin cells during growth divide much more rapidly in infancy than in adulthood. Cells are more vulnerable to damage from UV light during this cell division.

The findings of the study are published in journal Pigment Cell and Melanoma.