Having a history of non-melanoma skin cancer may increase the risk of developing any other malignancy in the body, a new study shows.

Researchers, led by Jiping Chen, MD, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute and Anthony Alberg, PhD, MPH, at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, said the increase was particularly linked to age.

After looking at an estimated 750 patients diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer and more than 18,000 people without the malignant disease, they found that individuals suffering from non-melanoma skin cancer age 25 to 44 had double the risk of developing other types of cancer later on, compared to those who never experienced the disease.

"It seems like non-melanoma skin cancer, even though it is a non-fatal disease, may be a warning sign for increased risk of other, more serious cancers," Alberg said.

The findings of the study were published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

According to Dr. Robin Ashinoff, a dermatologist at New York University Medical Center, individuals diagnosed with skin cancers may have inherited a family tendency for developing other types of cancer, due to an inability to repair DNA damage linked to non-melanoma skin cancer, the Washington Post reported.

Furthermore, “these patients are followed closely for further skin cancers, and therefore may have an increased diagnosis of other cancers, because they are plugged into the medical system," Ashinoff said.

More than 1 million cases of non-melanoma, the most common form of skin cancer, are found in the United States each year.