A possible association between tattoos and lymphoma revealed

Our knowledge regarding the long-term health effects of tattoos is currently poor and there is not much research in this area. A research group from Lund University studied the association between tattoos and lymphoma.

The new study, published in eMedicineClinical, suggests that tattoos could be a risk factor for cancer of the lymphatic system, or lymphoma. However, the researchers emphasize the need for more research on the subject.

“We identified individuals diagnosed with lymphoma through population registries. These individuals were then matched to a control group of the same sex and age, but without lymphoma. Study participants responded to a questionnaire about lifestyle factors in determining whether they were tattooed or not,” says Christel Nielsen, the Lund University researcher who led the study.

In total, the entire study included 11,905 people. Among them, 2,938 people had lymphoma between the ages of 20 and 60. Among them, 1,398 people responded to the questionnaire, while the number of participants in the control group was 4,193. In the lymphoma group, 21% were tattooed (289 individuals), while 18% were in the control group without a lymphoma diagnosis (735 individuals).

“After accounting for other relevant factors, such as smoking and age, we found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21% higher in people with tattoos. It is important to remember that lymphoma is “a rare disease and that our results apply at the group level. The results now need to be verified and further investigated in other studies and such research is ongoing,” says Nielsen.

A hypothesis from Nielsen’s research group before the study was that tattoo size would affect lymphoma risk. They thought that a full-body tattoo might be associated with a greater risk of cancer than a small butterfly on the shoulder, for example. Unexpectedly, the tattooed area of ​​the body surface turned out to be unimportant.

“We don’t yet know why this happened. We can only assume that a tattoo, regardless of its size, triggers mild inflammation in the body, which in turn can trigger cancer. So the picture is more complex than we had initially imagined.

Most people get their first tattoo at a young age, which means you’re exposed to tattoo ink for much of your life. Despite this, research has only scratched the surface of the long-term health effects of tattoos.

“We already know that when tattoo ink is injected into the skin, the body interprets it as something foreign that should not be there and the immune system is activated. Much of the ink is transported from the skin to the lymph nodes where it is deposited,” Nielsen explains.

The research group will now carry out studies to determine whether there is a link between tattoos and other types of cancer. They also want to further research other inflammatory diseases to see if there is a link to tattoos.

“People are likely to want to continue to express their identity through tattoos, and so it is very important that we as a society can ensure that this is safe. For the individual, it is good to know that tattoos “can affect your health, and that you should turn to your health care provider if you experience symptoms that you think may be related to your tattoo,” concludes Nielsen.