A Swedish study has found a potential link between tattoos and a type of cancer called malignant lymphoma, but it ultimately calls for more research on the topic, and cancer experts say the possible link is overblown.
The researchers, from Lund University, said they wanted to do the study because so little is known about the long-term health effects of tattooing, despite its continuing popularity. In the US alone, nearly a third of people have at least one tattoo, a 2023 Pew Research Center survey found.
The study, published in the most recent edition of the journal eClinicalMedicine, involved nearly 12,000 people in Sweden. From population registries, researchers identified everyone diagnosed with malignant lymphoma between 2007 and 2017 – nearly 3,000 people – and matched them with a group of the same age and gender mix who didn’t have cancer.
Malignant lymphoma is cancer of the lymphatic system, the part of the body that helps fight off germs and disease. Known risk factors include a weakened immune system caused by illness or immune disorders like AIDS, infections such as Epstein-Barr, age and a family history of the disease. Some exposure to chemicals like pesticides and herbicides can also increase the risk of lymphoma, in addition to secondhand smoke.
In 2021, the study authors sent questionnaires to the people they had identified, asking about certain lifestyle factors that may increase the risk of this kind of cancer and about whether they had any tattoos.
Even after the researchers factored in things that are known to affect cancer risk like smoking and age, they found that the risk of malignant lymphoma was 21% higher among those who had at least one tattoo. The finding is only an association, not a direct link, but the study authors emphasized that more research will be needed to flesh out this conclusion.
