Tattoos could trigger rare form of CANCER

Having a tattoo could increase your risk of developing a rare type of cancer by 21%, a new study has found.

Researchers in Sweden found a potential link between tattoos and cancer in the lymphatic system, known as lymphoma.

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system.

The researchers, from Lynd University, wanted to investigate the relationship between tattoos and long time health effects, as academic knowledge in this area is poor.

Dr Christel Nielsen, who led the study, 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 researchers looked at 11,905 people – 2,938 of the group, aged between 20 and 60 years old, had lymphoma.

Of those participants, 54% answered the questionnaire about tattoos and 47% of the control group, who did not have lymphoma, did the same.

In the group with lymphoma, 21% were tattooed (289 people), compared to 18% in the control group without a lymphoma diagnosis (735 people).

After looking at other factors such as smoking and age, the researchers found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21% higher among those who were tattooed.

The researchers also found that the size of the tattoo did not matter – so having a full-body tattoo did not increase the risk any more than a smaller tattoo would.