Is tattooing associated with an increased risk of cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #Tattooing
- #Cancer Risk
- #Meta-analysis
- Tattoo inks may contain carcinogenic compounds, raising concerns about potential cancer risk, but epidemiological evidence has been inconclusive.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the association between tattooing and the incidence of skin cancer and hematological malignancies.
- The analysis included seven observational studies with 140,841 participants, finding no significant association between tattoo exposure and overall skin cancer.
- Stratified analyses by number of tattoo sessions showed no significant associations for skin cancer risk across different session counts.
- For hematological malignancies, pooled analysis also showed no significant association overall or in subtype analyses for various lymphomas.
- Sensitivity analysis excluding one influential study rendered the association for overall hematological malignancies statistically significant, but this warrants cautious interpretation.
- The certainty of evidence ranged from low to moderate, and conclusions indicate that tattoo exposure was not associated with increased skin cancer risk, with further investigation needed for hematological malignancies.