A new study found that while alcohol raises the risk of invasive melanoma, white wine raised it most of all: A small daily glass increases risk by 13 percent.

Researchers at Brown University found alcohol intake was associated with an overall increased risk of melanomas by 14 percent, but each small glass of white wine upped the odds of melanomas by 13 percent. Additional amounts of other forms of alcohol — beer, red wine, and liquor — did not significantly affect melanoma risk.

Researchers used data from studies that followed more than 210,000 men and women for an average of more than 18 years, using food-frequency questionnaires to establish alcohol consumption. They defined a standard drink as 12.8 grams of alcohol — slightly below the 14 grams of "pure" alcohol contained in a U.S. standard drink.

While more than 85 percent of melanomas are caused by exposure to the sun, the increase in melanomas caused by white wine increased by 73 percent on the trunk of the body, an area of the body not normally exposed to sun.

The reason why white wine increased the risk is unknown, but may be associated with levels of the chemical acetaldehyde found in both red and white wine. The antioxidants found in red wine may offset the risks.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 76,380 new cases of invasive melanoma — the most deadly type of skin cancer — will be diagnosed this year and about 10,130 people will die. Although melanomas account for only about 1 percent of skin cancers, they cause the vast majority of deaths from skin cancer.

The study was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.