A recent study shows that smoking raises the chances of getting skin cancer.

The Center for Tobacco Control Studies at the University of Nottingham in Britain said in the study that smoking can increase the risk of squamous cell carcinoma, a major form of skin cancer, by an average of 52 percent.

The research team comprehensively analyzed 25 case studies conducted on middle-aged people in eleven countries.

Squamous cell carcinoma occurs on the outermost layer of the skin, and is highly likely to spread to other parts of the body.

The findings were published in the online edition of the Archives of Dermatology.