GETTING tattoos – however large or small – could up your risk of developing cancer by 21 per cent, a study suggests.
A Swedish study found a link between tattoos and cancer of the lymphatic system, also known as lymphoma.
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Researchers from Lund University stressed they’re not trying to dissuade people from getting inked and said further research is needed to confirm their results.
But they said that 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 surging in recent decades.
Lead author Christel Nielsen said: “We already know that when the tattoo ink is injected into the skin, the body interprets this as something foreign that should not be there and the immune system is activated.
“A large part of the ink is transported away 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 UK.
There are two main types of lymphatic cancer – Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Over 14,000 people are diagnosed with lymphoma each year in the UK, making it the most common blood cancer.
Lund University researchers looked at the link between tattoos and lymphoma, finding that people sporting ink have a 21 per cent increased chance of developing it.
They relied on Swedish National Authority registries, which identify every individual who’s been diagnosed with lymphoma, Dr Nielsen said.
Out of the 11,905 people studied, 2,938 where diagnosed with lymphoma between the ages of 20 and 60 years old, between 2007 and 2011.
Of these participants, 54 per cent (1,398) answered a questionnaire about tattoos.
Researchers also examined a control group of 4,193 people who hadn’t been diagnosed with cancer.
“We have identified people diagnosed with lymphoma via population registers,” Dr Nielsen said.
“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 were tattooed or not.”
In the group with lymphoma, 21 percent were tattooed (289 individuals), study results published in eClinicalMedicine showed.
As for the control group, 18 percent were tattooed (735).
“After taking into account other relevant factors, such as smoking and age, we found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21 percent higher among those who were tattooed,” Dr Nielsen explained.
The study team initially thought the size of a tattoo would affected someone’s likelihood of developing lymphoma – for example, that a full body tattoo might be associated with a greater risk compared to a small butterfly.
To their surprise, the size of of the tattoo turned out not to matter.
“We do not yet know why this was the case,” Dr Nielsen said.
“One can only speculate that a tattoo, regardless of size, triggers a low-grade inflammation in the body, which in turn can trigger cancer.
“The picture is thus more complex than we initially thought.”
Study authors noted that most people get their first tattoo at a young age, meaning they’re are exposed to tattoo ink for a large part of your life.
But they said research into 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 further in other studies and such research is ongoing.”
The research group intends to conduct studies on whether there is any association between tattoos and other types of cancer.
They also want to do further research on other inflammatory diseases to see if there is a link to tattoos.
Dr Nielsen said the point of the research was to ensure the practice of tattooing is safe rather than to dissuade people from doing it.
“People will likely want to continue to express their identity through tattoos, and therefore it is very important that we as a society can make sure that it is safe,” she explained.
“For the individual, it is good to know that tattoos can affect your health, and that you should turn to your health care provider if you experience symptoms that you believe could be related to your tattoo.”
Types of lymphoma and most common symptoms
LYMPHOMA – also referred to 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 get painless swellings in your neck, collarbone, armpit, groin or other parts of your body.
Some swollen lymph nodes can press on organs and cause pain in your chest, coughing, breathlessness, or pain in your stomach area.
Other symptoms include:
- Extreme tiredness – tiredness that doesn’t go away even after rest or sleep (fatigue)
- Chest pain, cough or breathlessness if there’s a swelling in your chest
- Feeling uncomfortably full or feeling sick caused by a swelling in your stomach area
- Itching either widespread or in one place
- Bone pain if the lymphoma affects the bone marrow inside your bones
- 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 the blood to clot
There are different types of lymphoma depending on how the cells are affected and how the lymphoma behaves.
They include:
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphomas that are fast-growing:
- Diffuse large B cell lymphoma
- Burkitt lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphomas that are slow-growing:
- Follicular lymphoma
- Waldenström macroglobulinaemia
Source: Blood Cancer UK