Experts discover people with tattoos have DOUBLE the risk of deadly cancers – the larger the tattoo, the greater the danger
Getting a tattoo could nearly triple your risk of certain cancers, a fascinating study on thousands of people suggests.
Danish and Finnish scientists analysed data from over 2,000 twins, comparing cancer rates in those who inked up versus those that didn’t.
They found participants with any tattoo were up to 62 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with skin cancer.
But for those with body art larger than the palm of a hand, the risk of skin cancer increased by 137 per cent and for lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, the risk soared to 173 per cent.
They said their findings were concerning given the rising popularity of tattoos in European nations, particularly among younger generations.
Surveys estimate that about one in four people in the UK now have at least one tattoo.
The authors said tattoos may increase cancer risk due to ink entering the bloodstream and accumulating in the lymph nodes — glands that are a vital part of the body’s immune system.
The dye could trigger chronic inflammation, leading to abnormal cell growth and an increased risk of cancer, the researchers said.
Getting a tattoo could nearly triple your risk of certain cancers, a fascinating study on thousands of twins suggests. Stock image
Professor Henrik Frederiksen, an expert in blood disorders from the University of Southern Denmark and one of the study authors, explained: ‘We can see that ink particles accumulate in the lymph nodes, and we suspect that the body perceives [the ink] as a foreign substance.’
‘This may mean that the immune system is constantly trying to respond to the ink, and we do not yet know whether this persistent strain could weaken the function of the lymph nodes or have other health consequences.’
Writing journal BMC Public Health, the authors said that further work should explore if particular colours of ink used in tattoos also played a part in increasing cancer risk.
While noting their data suggested getting a tattoo increased cancer risk, they acknowledged that, for skin cancer, other factors could be to blame.
They said it could be that tattoos don’t directly cause the disease but instead hide it, leading to a later diagnosis.
‘Tattoo ink may not cause cancer but “merely” lead to later detection and thus potentially be associated with more severe stages of skin cancer,’ they wrote.
Signs of skin cancer range from innocuous to obvious, but experts warn that treating cases early is key to making sure they do not spread or further develop
‘This is something we plan to delve deeper into in the future’.
Twin studies are considered a gold standard of such research because they allow experts to analyse two participants with extremely similar DNA, and compare the impact of lifestyle differences.
About 17,000 cases of lymphoma are diagnosed in the UK each year.
The condition happens when specific types of blood cells, which are crucial for fighting infections, develop abnormally.
Nearly 200,000 cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in Britain annually, but only a fraction, about 17,500 are melanomas, the most serious form of the disease.
