Study suggests tattoos may be risk factor for lymphoma
Last reviewed: 14.06.2024
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A new study led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden suggests that tattoos may be a risk factor for developing cancer of the lymphatic system, or lymphoma. The researchers emphasize the need for more research on this topic.
Our knowledge of the long-term health effects of tattoos is still limited, and not much research has been done in this area. A team of researchers from Lund University studied the link between tattoos and lymphoma.
"We identified people who had been diagnosed with lymphoma through population registries. We matched these people with sex- and age-matched controls without lymphoma. Study participants completed a questionnaire about lifestyle factors to determine whether they had they have tattoos,” says Christel Nielsen, a researcher at Lund University who led the study.
A total of 11,905 people took part in the study. Of these, 2,938 people were diagnosed with lymphoma between the ages of 20 and 60 years. Among them, 1,398 people responded to the questionnaire, while the number of participants in the control group was 4,193 people. In the group with lymphoma, 21% had tattoos (289 people), and in the control group without a diagnosis of lymphoma - 18% (735 people).
"After controlling for 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 our results are applicable at the level group. The results now need to be confirmed and further investigated in other studies, and such work is already underway,” adds Christel Nielsen.
One of Christel Nielsen's research team's hypotheses before the study was that tattoo size would influence the risk of lymphoma. They believed that a full-body tattoo may be associated with a greater risk of cancer compared to a small butterfly on the shoulder, for example. Unexpectedly, it turned out that the area of the tattooed body surface does not matter.
"We don't yet know why this is so. We can only assume that a tattoo, regardless of size, causes low-level inflammation in the body, which in turn can trigger cancer. The picture turns out to be 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 most of their lives. However, 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 and activates the immune system. Most of the ink is transported from the skin to the lymph nodes, where it is deposited," explains Christel Nielsen. p>
The research team intends to continue research to find out if there is a link between tattoos and other types of cancer. They also want to do more research into other inflammatory diseases to see if there is a link to tattoos.
"People will likely want to continue to express their individuality through tattoos, and so it is important that society can ensure their safety. It is good for everyone to know that tattoos can affect your health, and that you should consult your doctor if you notice symptoms that you think may be related to the tattoo,” concludes Christel Nielsen.
The study results were published in The Lancet.