Oncology specialist Prof. Dr. Uğur Coşkun warned

Associate Professor Dr. Uğur Coşkun, a faculty member of the Medical Oncology Department at Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, warned that getting a tattoo increases the risk of lymphoma by 21 percent. Associate Professor Dr. Coşkun pointed out that permanent tattoos are commonly done especially at a young age in our country as well as worldwide, stating that there is not enough research and information about the long-term effects of tattoos. An important study on this topic was published in the Clinical Medicine journal yesterday. Approximately 11,000 people were included in this study conducted by Nielsen and colleagues at Lund University. The percentage of tattoos in individuals with lymphoma was 21 percent, while in those without a lymphoma diagnosis, this rate was found to be 18 percent. As a result, it was determined that getting a tattoo increases the risk of lymphoma by 21 percent. No relationship was found between the size of the tattoo and lymphoma in this study.
Professor Dr. Uğur Coşkun stated: ‘There is no clear data on which mechanism tattoos increase the risk of lymphoma. However, it is thought that the low-grade inflammation caused by tattoo ink injected into the skin may lead to lymph cancer. The ink injected into the body is ultimately a foreign substance that triggers the immune system. Much of this ink is transported from the skin to the lymph nodes. It can be thought to have a relationship with lymphoma in this way.
‘To be able to say something definite about this, larger studies are needed. It is necessary to investigate the relationship between tattoos and lymphoma and other cancers with extensive research.’