Q&A: Tattoo ink may raise lymphoma risk
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Key takeaways:
- A recent study indicates that tattoos may be a risk factor for lymphoma.
- One of the researchers told Healio about the mechanisms behind the potential link.
Having a tattoo was associated with a 21% increased risk for lymphoma, but more research is needed to better understand the possible connection, according to experts.
Christel Nielsen, MSc, PhD, an associate professor and epidemiology research group leader at Lund University in Sweden, and colleagues recently published a population-based case-control study that evaluated the association among 11,905 participants.
The study, published in eClinicalMedicine, revealed that those with tattoos had a higher adjusted risk for overall lymphoma (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.21; 95% CI, 0.99-1.48), and the strongest association was among those who had recently gotten their tattoo (IRR = 1.81; 95% CI, 1.03-3.2).
Healio spoke with Nielsen about the mechanisms that could be responsible for the association, other health risks potentially tied to tattoos and more.
Healio: Why is this research important? How can tattoos potentially influence lymphoma risk? What are the possible mechanisms at play here?
Nielsen: There has been quite a lot of focus on the chemical content of tattoo ink during the last 10 years, particularly in Europe. It is known that tattoo ink often contains chemicals that are established carcinogens in other contexts, such as in occupationally exposed workers. We also know that the ink is transported away from the skin by the immune system because the body tries to remove the ink particles that it perceives as something foreign that should not be there. It has been shown that this process effectively translocates tattoo pigment to the lymph nodes, and that the ink particles are permanently stored there. There is a need to connect the dots and understand how our health is affected by this permanent storage of potentially toxic chemicals within the immune system.
Healio: Were any specific characteristics of the tattoo relevant? Location on body, recency of getting the tattoo, colored ink, etc.? Why?
Nielsen: We found that recent tattoos (received within 2 years) and older tattoos (11 years or more) were associated with the largest risk increase. This could indicate that the inks affect multiple steps of the carcinogenic process (both tumor initiation and tumor promotion), but more research is needed before we can make such conclusions. There were no differences between different colors. We cannot answer the “why” based on an observational study, but the results can guide future research exploring mechanisms.
Healio: Is there anything that can be done to mitigate the risk, particularly if there is a certain period of vulnerability?
Nielsen: Living a healthy lifestyle in general — avoid smoking, exercise regularly and eat healthy. But it is good for tattooed persons to be aware that tattoos may be associated with health effects, and to seek health care if you experience symptoms that you relate to your tattoo.
Healio: What other health risks/diseases could be linked to tattoos?
Nielsen: We are doing parallel studies on skin cancer (results available during the autumn) and are about to start up studies on other diseases with immunologic involvement such as autoimmune disease.
Healio: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Nielsen: It is important to keep in mind that lymphoma is a very rare disease, so we are talking about a 21% risk increase in relation to a disease that has a low risk to start with.
Our results show that more research is needed.