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Becoming a pilot or airline hostess might seem like a glamorous job, but new research reveals that these professions could also double the risk of cancer.

Lead researcher Dr. Martina Sanlorenzo, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues, conducted a meta-analysis that involved 19 studies that involved more than 266,000 participants. They found that people with any flight-based occupation were 2.21 times more likely to develop melanoma.

The study revealed that pilots were 2.22 times more likely to develop melanoma and cabin crew were 2.09 times more likely.

Previous studies reveal that pilots and flight crew were more likely to develop melanoma because they experience increased altitude-related exposure to UV and cosmic radiation.

"In this systematic review and meta-analysis including 19 studies and more than a quarter of a million participants, we found that the combined and separate SIRs for pilots and cabin crew were greater than the 2, indicating that pilots and air crew have twice the incidence of melanoma compared with the general population. ... This has important implications for occupational health and protection of this population," researchers wrote in the study.

Researchers predict that 76,100 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma and 9,710 will die in 2014.

The findings are published in the journal JAMA Dermatology.