A Swedish study has discovered a possible connection between tattoos and malignant lymphoma, a particular kind of cancer, although it ultimately recommends further investigation into the matter. Experts in cancer claim that any connection is exaggerated.
The study was carried out by Lund University researchers in order to investigate the long-term health repercussions of tattooing, which is still rather popular. According to a Pew Research Center poll from 2023, about one-third of Americans had at least one tattoo.
The study included close to 12,000 participants in Sweden and was published in the journal eClinicalMedicine. Researchers compared approximately 3,000 individuals who had been diagnosed with malignant lymphoma between 2007 and 2017 with a comparable sample of adults who had not been diagnosed with the disease.
An illness of the lymphatic system, which aids in the defense against infections, is malignant lymphoma. Weakened immune systems, Epstein-Barr infections, aging, family history, exposure to certain chemicals, and secondhand smoking are among the known risk factors.
The study's authors mailed questionnaires to the participants in 2021, inquiring about their tattoo history and other lifestyle choices that could raise their risk of cancer. Researchers discovered that individuals with at least one tattoo had a 21% increased risk of malignant lymphoma after controlling for age and smoking, two well-known cancer risk factors. More study is necessary because the discovery is only an association and not a direct correlation.
Interestingly, the study did not find any indication that the risk rose with the number of tattoos. Any tattoo, regardless of size, may cause low-grade inflammation that may eventually result in cancer, according to co-author Christel Nielsen's theory.
Experts have doubts about the study's findings. The finding was deemed overblown by Dr. Timothy Rebbeck, an epidemiologist affiliated with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He stressed that tattooing is not associated with the primary risk factors for lymphomas.
The study's lack of link with tattoo size, according to Dr. Catherine Diefenbach, head of the Clinical Lymphoma Program at NYU Langone Health Perlmutter Cancer Center, doesn't make sense if an immunological or toxic response is at play. She underlined that more confirmation is needed for the study because it is preliminary.
The researchers hypothesized that tattoo ink, which contains chemicals that might cause cancer, could be a contributing factor. According to earlier studies, ink particles have the ability to enter lymph nodes throughout the body and cause health problems. Nonetheless, tattoo-related diseases are uncommon, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released recommendations to guard against tainted inks.
Nielsen's group intends to look at any connections between tattoos and inflammatory illnesses or other forms of malignancy. Dr. Rebbeck emphasized that people should use caution when interpreting these kinds of studies, since there is currently insufficient evidence to establish a direct relationship between tattoos and cancer.