Tag Archive for: tattoo

Update: Tattoos and Cancer

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This week it’s time to update prior memos given. The first is a case study on tattoos. It seems people, especially young people, are wearing a lot more ink then they used to. I’ve written about the relationship between tattoos and cancer, but didn’t find enough data to make a recommendation. This memo is about a recent case study on tattoos and lymphoma. Or so the physician thought.

A woman noticed a couple of lumps under her armpits. She waited a couple of weeks but when they didn’t go away, she went to the doctor. The doctor examined her. The lumps were swollen lymph nodes. They did a scan of her upper body and found more lymph nodes, similarly swollen, a condition usually consistent with lymphoma. When they excised the lymph nodes, they were surprised to find that they were full of ink. Black tattoo ink. She had gotten a large tattoo on her back some 15 years prior and another one recently. No cancer, just an extreme reaction to the ink.

Skin is live tissue and it’s part of the immune system. As the physician told the media, this was an extreme immune response to an invasion by a foreign substance. The white blood cells did what they do and sequestered the ink in the lymph nodes. Why? The physicians couldn’t explain. The question is will it happen more frequently with more tattoos in the future? Only time will tell. But if you have a tattoo, this is another reason to get any lumps checked immediately.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Ann Intern Med. 2017. DOI: 10.7326/L17-0424.

 

The Bottom Line on Tattoos and Skin Cancer

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Based on the research to date, there doesn’t appear to be a significant risk of tattoos causing skin cancer. I’ve explained this before in a memo several years ago, but here’s the gist of it: I’m sticking this issue under the heading “Reserve Judgment.” When there’s no statistical significance but there may be a relationship between variables, that’s the statistical term that’s appropriate. I know you’re thinking, “Dr. Chet—50 cases. Ever! C’mon, man. What’s your problem?” There are three reasons I’m reserving judgment.

First, while tattoo businesses have . . .

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Tattoos and Skin Cancer Research

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The research question of the week is do people with tattoos have an increased risk of skin cancer? Let me tell you what I found.

In a study published in Lancet Oncology, researchers examined the medical literature for case studies on tattoos and skin cancers of various types (1). They found 50 cases; 16 of them were melanoma. That doesn’t seem to be an overwhelming number of skin cancer cases when you consider the 60 million or so people who have tattoos. The researchers concluded that at this point, the number of cases of skin cancer is more likely . . .

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Do Tattoos Increase Skin Cancer Risk?

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The other day, out of the blue, Paula asked me a question: “Do you think people with tattoos have more undetected skin cancer?” You can’t help but notice that more and more people of all ages are getting elaborate tattoos, some covering extensive parts of their arms and legs—the areas most likely to get increased exposure to the sun. A section of black ink could mask a rapidly growing black mole, for instance, and skin cancer could go unnoticed for longer.

Move forward 10 hours. I was changing to work out at the gym, and the guy a . . .

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Equipment, Examples, and Hibiscus

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Wherever I am, I observe people. Here are a few recent observations about kids, fitness, and tattoos. Tattoos? It doesn’t go where you think it might.
Kids and Exercise Equipment
As I was working out on the treadmill in the fitness room of the hotel I stayed at in Fort Worth, the door opened and a mom and her son walked in. I would say he was about seven or eight years old, and he wanted to try out the elliptical trainer. No luck—he wasn’t big enough to get any type of movement. Then he tried the . . .

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