A new study suggesting that tattoos could be a risk factor for cancer went viral last weekend, leaving plenty of people permanently inked in a panic. However, a medical expert who identified himself as a “heavily tattooed person” said there was nothing to worry about, for now.

Lund University in Sweden caused quite the ruckus on social media when it published a new study on Friday (May 24) that suggested that tattoos could be a risk factor for cancer in the lymphatic system, or lymphoma. 

On X (formerly known as Twitter), people were quick to share their discontentment, as a user wrote: “Breaking news everything is killing us! Who knew ?”

A person commented: “Amazing how everything is now linked to an increased risk of cancer.

“I am 3 times vaccinated, dead man walking. 

“High probability of cancer or heart disease or blood clots. 

“But no it will be the tattoo I had do 50 years ago that I should go and see my doctor about.”

A viral study from Lund University suggesting tattoos may increase lymphoma risk caused alarm

Image credits: cottonbro studio/Pexels

Someone else penned: “What a load of BS, tattooing has been around since the 4th millennium BC, and they’ve only just come up with that.”

“Imagine being covered in them,” an observer noted.

A separate individual chimed in: “Damn, a lot of you are screwed. Those tattoo sleeves won’t be so cool soon.”

Christel Nielsen, the researcher at Lund University who led the study, said: “We have identified people diagnosed with lymphoma via population registers. 

Image credits: Åsa Hansdotter/Lund University

“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 total, the entire study included 11,905 people, the university explained. Of these, 2,938 people had lymphoma when they were between 20 and 60 years old. 

Among them, 1,398 people answered the questionnaire, while the number of participants in the control group was 4,193. In the group with lymphoma, 21 percent were tattooed (289 individuals), while 18 percent were tattooed in the control group without a lymphoma diagnosis (735 individuals).

However, a tattooed medical professional urged caution and highlighted the need for further research

Image credits: Sebastian Kaulitzki/stock.adobe.com

Christel said: “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.

“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.”

A hypothesis that Christel’s research group had before the study was that the size of the tattoo would affect the lymphoma risk, the University wrote.

Image credits: Letícia Lua/Pexels

Researchers thought that a full-body tattoo might be associated with a greater risk of cancer compared to a small butterfly on the shoulder, for example. Unexpectedly, the area of the tattooed body surface turned out not to matter. 

Christel said: “We do not yet know why this was the case. 

“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.”    

Lund University suggests that tattoos may cause cancer because the ink can trigger a low-grade inflammation in the body

Image credits: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

Most people get their first tattoo at a young age, which means that they are exposed to tattoo ink for a large part of their life, according to the university.

Even so, research has only scratched the surface of the long-term health effects of tattoos. 

“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,” Christel said. “A large part of the ink is transported away from the skin, to the lymph nodes where it is deposited.”

The research group will now proceed with studies of whether there is any association between tattoos and other types of cancer, the university said. 

Image credits: Lund University

The Swedish scientists also want to do further research on other inflammatory diseases to see if there is a link to tattoos.

Christel said: “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. 

“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.”

Lymphoma is a type of hematologic cancer that originates in the lymph nodes of the body, so it affects our immune system, Dr Timothy Pearman, Director of Supportive Oncology at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center explained.

Dr Timothy Pearman told Bored Panda that as a “heavily tattooed person” himself, he wasn’t too worried

“You can manage the #cancer for many years or decades and still have a good quality of life.” Timothy Pearman, PhD, with @LurieCancer @NorthwesternMed stops by @cbschicago to discuss the importance of #NationalCancerSurvivorMonth. https://t.co/gGkE2zV9ws

— NM Media Relations (@NMHC_News) June 7, 2023

The expert, who is also a professor at the Department of Medical Social Sciences and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, stated that the risk factors for developing lymphoma are largely unknown, though it is known that individuals in certain “high risk” professions, as well as individuals with a compromised immune system, are at increased risk of developing lymphoma.  

According to Lymphoma Action, working in a job where you’re exposed to high levels of industrial chemicals, solvents, weedkillers, and insecticides is a possible risk factor for developing lymphoma. 

As a result, professions at risk include crop farming, hairdressing, painting and decorating, or working in the rubber manufacturing industry.

“I think this research from Sweden is scientifically valid, but a few caveats are important to note,” Dr Pearman told Bored Panda in an email. 

Old women with tattoos characteristic for Croatian Catholics in Bosnia, 1930s – 1940s pic.twitter.com/rKwGFx49wQ

— History Defined (@historydefined) October 31, 2023

He clarified: “First, the rate of people tattooed was 21% in lymphoma patients and 18% in “normal controls” (people not diagnosed with lymphoma).  

“In a study as large as this one (over 11,000 participants), this 3% difference in rates of tattooing could simply be due to how statistical analysis works.  

“As the number of study participants increases, it becomes more likely that even minuscule changes between groups will show up as statistically significant, even if they don’t truly have much clinical significance. 

“Second, the authors note that when they did a literature review of tattooing and lymphoma they found only one study that had investigated this. 

“Further, this study was underpowered (not enough tattooed subjects) and so didn’t find any significant risk to tattoos.”

The board-certified clinical health psychologist concluded: “As a heavily tattooed person myself, as well as from a scientific perspective, I’m not worried about the impact of tattoos on lymphoma risk and think much more research would need to be done before assuming that tattooing has any impact whatsoever on cancer risk.”

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