Tattoos may be a risk factor for malignant lymphoma

In the first large-scale study, tattooing increased the risk of malignant lymphoma by approximately 20% compared to not tattooing. Tattoo ink often contains carcinogens and causes an immunological reaction when applied to the skin. This study was a population-based study of cases and controls of all incident cases of malignant lymphoma in Swedish adults (aged 20-60 years) in the Swedish National Cancer Registry between 2007 and 2017 (n = 11,905). Tattoo exposure was assessed using a structured questionnaire in both cases and three age- and sex-matched random controls without lymphoma. The primary outcome was the ratio of the incidence of malignant lymphoma in tattooed and non-tattooed subjects.

In subgroup analysis by lymphoma type, the highest risk was found to be around 30% for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (incidence rate ratio = 1.30; 95% CI, 0.99-1.71) and follicular lymphoma (incidence rate ratio = 1.29; 95% CI, 0.92-1.82) in tattooed and non-tattooed individuals.

The risk of lymphoma was not found to increase with greater total tattooed body surface area. The authors report that the popularity of tattooing has increased strikingly, with a current prevalence of ≥20% in European studies.

Further epidemiological research is urgently needed to establish causality. The study also underlines the importance of regulatory measures to control the chemical composition of tattoo inks. 

Source: 

Nielsen C, Jerkeman M, Joud AS. Tattoos as a risk factor for malignant lymphoma: A population-based case-control study. eClinicalMedicine. Published online May 21, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102649