Currently, our knowledge about the long-term health effects of tattoos is limited, and there is little research in this area. Now, a new study from Lund University in Sweden suggests that tattoos could be a risk factor for cancer in the lymphatic system, known as lymphoma, so the authors of the work highlight the need for more research on the issue.
Researchers have explored the possible association between tattoos and lymphoma. “We have identified people diagnosed with lymphoma through population registries. These individuals were then matched with a control group of the same sex and age, but without lymphoma. “The study participants answered a questionnaire about lifestyle factors to determine whether they had tattoos or not,” explained Christel Nielsen, the Lund University researcher who led the study.
In total, the study included 11,905 people. Of these, 2,938 had lymphoma when they were between 20 and 60 years old. Of these, 1,398 responded to the questionnaire, while the number of participants in the control group was 4,193. In the lymphoma group, 21% had tattoos (289 individuals) while, in the control group without a lymphoma diagnosis, 18% had tattoos (735 individuals). The results have been published in eClinicalMedicine.
“After considering other relevant factors, such as smoking and age, we found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21% higher among those with tattoos. It is important to remember that lymphoma is a rare disease and that our results apply at the group level. These results now need to be verified and investigated further in other studies, and such research is ongoing,” says Christel Nielsen.
Possible links between tattoos and long-term health problems
One hypothesis Christel Nielsen’s research group had before the study was that tattoo size would affect lymphoma risk. They thought that a full-body tattoo might be associated with a higher risk of cancer compared to a small tattoo on the shoulder, for example. Unexpectedly, the tattooed surface area did not turn out to be relevant.
“We still don’t know why it was like that. One can only speculate that a tattoo, regardless of its size, triggers low-grade inflammation in the body, which in turn can trigger cancer. “The situation is more complex than we initially thought.”
Most people get their first tattoo at a young age, which means they are exposed to tattoo ink for much of their lives. Still, research has only begun to explore 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. A large part of the ink is transported from the skin to the lymph nodes, where it is deposited,” says Christel Nielsen.
“A tattoo, regardless of its size, triggers low-grade inflammation in the body, which in turn can trigger cancer”
The goal of the group of researchers is to continue with studies to determine if there is any association between tattoos and other types of cancer. These scientists also want to do more research on other inflammatory diseases to see if there is any link to tattoos.
“People will probably still want to express their identity through tattoos, so it is very important that as a society we ensure that this is safe. For the individual, it is good to know that tattoos can affect his health, and that he should go to his doctor if he experiences symptoms that he believes could be related to his tattoo,” concludes Christel Nielsen.
