Tattoos can be the risk of hidden cancer, study of twin finds

Your next tattoo may be more risk than is currently suggested, recent research shows. Scientists have found evidence of a potential link between tattoo ink and higher risk of certain cancers.

Researchers at the University of South Denmark (SDU) conducted a study published this January in Public Health of BMC. They compared the twins, finding that those who received tattoos have a much higher risk of being diagnosed with skin cancer and lymphoma. More research is needed to understand whether this connection is causal and the reasons behind it, if so, the researchers say.

Tattoos are becoming more popular. According to a PEW study of 2023, one -third of Americans I am currently playing Tat22% have more than one. Given that it is important to know the potential long -term effects of tattoos and researchers say that it is not done enough to find out if the ink tattoo can be carcinogenic.

To overcome this gap, they analyzed data from the Danish cohort Tattoo Tattoo (DTTC). DTTC was created in 2021 by SDU scientists to explore twin pairs about their tattoo history, with volunteers required by the long-standing Danish Registry, also sustained In SDU. This allowed the researchers to know the status of a person’s tattoos and to follow whether they had later developed cancer. They specifically sought cancers in parts of the body where it was known that tattoo ink particles were deposited, such as skin and lymph nodes.

All the said, the researchers had information about nearly 6,000 adult twins, who used to conduct two different types of studies that compare cancer-related tattoo and non-tattooed twins. In both designs, twins with tattoos were noticeably more likely to develop skin cancer and lymphoma than their colleagues.

The exact added risk associated with tattooing differs depending on the type of cancer, the characteristics of the tattoo and other relevant factors such as age. But the largest related risk is observed with tattoos, larger than the size of the palm -people with these tattoos are at risk of two to three times higher than these cancers than people without tattoos at all. This is key because this is a possible sign of a dose effect that would strengthen the case, as there is a true association here.

“We are concerned that tattoo ink interacting with surrounding cells can have severe consequences,” the study authors wrote.

This type of research alone cannot be used to confirm a link between tattoos and cancer. But overall Twin studies allow scientists to avoid many of the limitations of such studies (since twins are so genetically and often the same, there is less noise in the data to worry about). In recent years, there have been at least four other studies that are addressing the issue. Three of them researchtwo of where looked to the US residents have offered a possible relationship while one failed To find any connection.

At the same time, there may still be other explanations. People who get tattoos may be more likely to participate in other cancer behaviors such as smoking and drinking. So the presence of a tattoo can simply be an indirect marker for an increased risk of cancer in general, not a reason. Tattoos can also reduce the chances of someone noticing your skin cancer early, which can lead to a worse results (with this scenario, tattoos will not cause cancer, but would make them more dangerous).

Another lengthy question, assuming that this connection is true, is exactly what is behind it. Tattoo ink may excite the cells of our body in a certain way, causing inflammation or other changes that could nourish the formation of cancer. Some studies have also found that the ingredients found in certain ink colors, such as black or red, are more harmful or cause allergies than others. The researchers did not find clear evidence of a color effect in their study, but they are not yet discounts that this may be appropriate.

In any case, the team says that more research is needed to get to the bottom of this potential problem. “Studies are recommended that determine the etiological pathway of carcinogenesis caused by ink tattoos are recommended,” they wrote.