Tattoos increase lymphoma risk by 21%, new study finds

Regret has long been considered the most serious side effect of getting a tattoo. New Research It suggests there may be something worse to worry about.

Tattoos are now Mainstream Tattoos are a way to express identity and celebrate life milestones, but little is known about their long-term health effects. Harmful chemicals found in tattoo inks have garnered attention. In Europe Over the past decade, research has shown that ink injected into the skin doesn't stay there.

The body recognises tattoo ink as a foreign body that must be removed, triggering an immune response when you get a tattoo, which results in a large proportion of the ink particles ending up in your lymph nodes. But the final piece of the puzzle remains to be understood: How does tattoo ink deposited in the lymphatic system affect a person's health?

To connect the dots, I and my colleagues at Lund University in Sweden conducted a large-scale study to investigate whether having a tattoo increases the risk of malignant lymphoma, a rare form of cancer that affects white blood cells (lymphocytes). The study was recently published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.

The population is 1 in 5 In terms of the percentage of people with tattoos, Sweden is one of the most tattooed countries in the world, and the country also has a long tradition of civil registration, for example the National Cancer Registry registers everyone diagnosed with cancer.

Our study included all Swedes who were diagnosed with lymphoma aged 20 to 60 years between 2007 and 2017. For each person with lymphoma, we randomly selected three people of the same sex and age but without lymphoma (to be used as a “control group” for comparison).

Participants completed a questionnaire about several lifestyle factors, and those with tattoos were asked about the size of their tattoo, the age at which they first got a tattoo, and the color of their tattoo. The study involved 5,591 people (1,398 cases and 4,193 controls).

After taking into account smoking status and education level (both factors that may be associated with having a tattoo and developing lymphoma), they found that people with tattoos had a 21% higher risk of developing lymphoma than those without tattoos.

It is important to keep in mind that lymphoma is a very rare disease and the increased risk is associated with a very low baseline risk. According to the National Board of Health and Welfare, in 2022 in Sweden, 22 out of 100,000 people in the age group 20-60 were diagnosed with lymphoma.

Size Doesn't Matter

The size of the tattoo didn't seem to matter. What did matter was time – that is, how long participants had had the tattoo – and newer tattoos (those gotten within the last two years) and older tattoos (those gotten more than 10 years ago) seemed to be at higher risk.

It would be inappropriate to recommend tattoos based on this study alone; more research is needed before we can make a recommendation. However, what this study does show is that it's important for people with tattoos to be aware that their tattoos may affect their health, and that they should seek medical help if they experience any symptoms that may be related to their tattoo.

Tattoos are likely to remain popular for some time to come. More and more people will continue to get tattoos, so it is our social responsibility to make tattooing as safe as possible.

It's clear that we need to dig deeper to understand the health effects of tattoos. Currently, my colleagues and I are completing parallel studies on two types of skin cancer, and are about to begin a new study to look at whether there is an increased risk of immune system-related diseases, such as thyroid disease and diabetes. sarcoidosis.