Can Tattoos Increase the Risk of Lymphoma?

Tattoos are becoming more and more popular, but this trend has prompted worries about safety. The process of tattooing involves the insertion of ink into tiny punctures created in the epidermis. The tattoo pigments are considered to be a foreign body that may elicit the immune response. The tattooing process invokes an immunologic response that causes the translocation of tattoo ink from the injection site. Let us understand the effects of tattooing on our bodies and the correlation between tattoos and blood cancer (lymphoma). So, if you love having tattoos or are thinking of getting one for the first time, here’s what you need to know.

 

What is Lymphoma?

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. It is a type of blood cancer that occurs when white blood cells, known as lymphocytes, grow out of control. Lymphocytes are an important component of the immune system that helps in the defense against infections. Carrying a fluid known as lymph, lymphocytes move throughout the body via the lymphatic system. This fluid flows through glands found all over the body called lymph nodes. Because of this, medical professionals may refer to lymphoma as an immune system cancer.

This kind of immune system cancer can spread quickly to other tissues and organs throughout the body since it is lymphatic system-related. Lymphoma spreads to the liver, bone marrow, or lungs.

The Process of Getting a tattoo

 Tattoo ink particles are injected into the skin, which either passively travel through the blood and lymphatic fluids or are taken up by immune cells and deposited in lymph nodes. It is found that the particles are present in both the dermis and the sinusoids of the draining lymph nodes after the healing process is complete.

 

Newly tattooed skin swells as a part of the healing process. The majority of tattoo particles remain at the site of deposition in the dermis, regional lymph node migration is also observed. The researchers have observed the transport of organic pigments, heavy metals, and titanium dioxide from the site of injection to regional lymph nodes. 

 

Is there a connection between tattoos and lymphoma?

Reasons to consider the possibility of a connection between tattoos and lymphoma are:

 

• Tattoo ink contains numerous chemicals known as carcinogens that can be travel around the body and can end up in the lymph nodes.
• After getting a tattoo, pigment from tattoo ink can be found in enlarged lymph nodes.
  
  
• The chemicals in tattoo ink have the ability to cause skin cells to react and initiate a systemic immunological response.
  
  
• The effects of other triggers of lymphoma like that of pesticides on immune cells in lymph nodes is similar to the effects of tattoo.

 

 The Study That Connects the Dots

 

A study conducted at Lund University in Sweden is bringing on a new light on the topic which hasn't been much researched and is offering a fresh perspective on the potential health effects of tattoos. This includes:

A recent study published in the journal eClinical Medicine, suggested that tattoo exposure was associated with an increased risk of malignant lymphoma. a type of cancer. The study took place in Sweden where 12,000 people were involved. Researchers matched over 3,000 individuals with malignant lymphoma diagnosed between 2007 and 2017 across a range of ages and genders with a control group of individuals without cancer based on information from population registries.

 

The study concluded that in comparison to non-tattooed individuals, tattooed individuals had an overall 21% greater risk of malignant lymphoma; the highest connection was shown for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma.

Thus, malignant lymphoma incidence has increased globally, for reasons that are still mostly unknown. It is critical to ascertain whether there is a correlation between this increase and concurrent developments in lifestyle-related factors. A latest study looks at tattoos as a risk factor for lymphoma. People with tattoos may be more likely to get lymphoma, which emphasises the need for more research on the long-term health implications of tattoos.

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