GETTING tattoos – big or small – could increase your risk of developing cancer by 21%, a study suggests.
A Swedish study has found a link between tattoos and cancer of the lymphatic system, also known as lymphoma.
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Researchers from Lund University emphasized that they are not trying to dissuade people from getting tattooed and said that more research is needed to confirm their results.
But they said not much is currently known about the long-term health effects of tattoos, with little research in the area, despite the popularity of permanent body art having increased in recent decades.
Lead author Christel Nielsen said: “We already know that when tattoo ink is injected into the skin, the body interprets it as something foreign that shouldn’t 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.”
Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system — specifically white blood cells called lymphocytes, according to Blood cancer in the UK.
There are two main types of lymphatic cancer – Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
More than 14,000 people are diagnosed with lymphoma every year in the UK, making it the most common blood cancer.
Researchers at Lund University looked at the link between tattoos and lymphoma, finding that people who wear ink have a 21% greater chance of developing it.
They relied on the Swedish National Authority’s registries, which identify all individuals diagnosed with lymphoma, Dr. Nielsen said.
Of the 11,905 people studied, 2,938 were diagnosed with lymphoma between the ages of 20 and 60, between 2007 and 2011.
Of these participants, 54 percent (1,398) completed a questionnaire about tattoos.
The researchers also examined a control group of 4,193 people who had not been diagnosed with cancer.
“We identify people diagnosed with lymphoma through population registries,” said Dr. Nielsen.
“These individuals were then compared with a control group of the same sex and age, but without lymphoma.
“Study participants completed a questionnaire on lifestyle factors to determine whether they were tattooed or not.”
In the lymphoma group, 21 percent were tattooed (289 individuals), study results published in eClínicaMedicine showed.
As for the control group, 18 percent were tattooed (735).
“After taking into account other relevant factors, such as smoking status and age, we found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21% higher among those who were tattooed,” explained Dr. Nielsen.
The study team initially thought that the size of a tattoo would affect someone’s likelihood of developing lymphoma — for example, that a full-body tattoo might be associated with a higher risk compared to a small butterfly.
To his surprise, the size of the tattoo ended up not mattering.
“We still don’t know why this happened,” Dr. Nielsen said.
“We can only speculate that a tattoo, regardless of size, triggers low-grade inflammation in the body, which in turn can trigger cancer.
“The picture is therefore more complex than we initially thought.”
The study authors noted that most people get their first tattoo at a young age, meaning they are exposed to tattoo ink for much of their lives.
But they said research on the subject has only scratched the surface of the long-term health effects of tattoos.
Dr Nielsen said: “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 investigated in other studies and this research is ongoing.”
The research group intends to carry out studies to find out whether there is an association between tattoos and other types of cancer.
They also want to do more research on other inflammatory diseases to see if there is a link to tattoos.
Nielsen said the aim of the research was to ensure that tattooing was safe, not to dissuade people from getting it.
“People will probably want to continue to express their identity through tattoos and therefore it is very important that we as a society ensure that it is safe,” she explained.
“For the individual, it is good to know that tattoos can affect your health and that you should consult your doctor if you experience symptoms that you believe may be related to your tattoo.”
Most common types of lymphoma and symptoms
LYMPHOMA – also known as lymphatic cancer – is a type of blood cancer that affects white blood cells called lymphocytes.
The most common symptom of the disease are lumps caused by swollen lymph nodes.
You may feel painless swelling in your neck, collarbone, armpit, groin, or other parts of your body.
Some swollen lymph nodes can press on organs and cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, or pain in the stomach area.
Other symptoms include:
- Extreme tiredness – tiredness that does not go away even after resting or sleeping (fatigue)
- Chest pain, cough or shortness of breath if there is a swelling in your chest
- Feeling uncomfortably full or nauseous caused by swelling in the stomach area
- Itch widespread or in one place
- Bone pain if lymphoma affects the bone marrow inside the bones
- Skin skin rashes or lumps
- Infections that are frequent or last a long time
- Unusual bleeding or bruising caused by a low number of platelets – the blood cells that cause blood to clot
There are different types of lymphoma, depending on how the cells are affected and how the lymphoma behaves.
They include:
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Fast-growing non-Hodgkin lymphomas:
- Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
- Burkitt’s lymphoma
Slow-growing non-Hodgkin lymphomas:
- Follicular lymphoma
- Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia
Source: Blood cancer in the UK
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