People with more than one tattoo session may have a decreased risk of the skin cancer melanoma—with one key caveat, according to research from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.
Although RVtravel.com readers, who are generally 55 years and older, have fewer tattoos than younger people, the results are worth noting. RVers, being out and about more than the general public, likely sustain more sun damage than their stay-at-home peers, which increases skin cancer risks.
7,000 Utahns evaluated
A team led by Jennifer Doherty, Huntsman Cancer Institute investigator, co-leader of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program, and professor of population health sciences at the University of Utah, evaluated 7,000 Utahns and found that having two or more tattoo sessions decreased the risk of both invasive and in situ melanoma. In situ melanoma means the cancer cells remain on the skin’s surface and are more easily removed.
But the researchers also found that participants with only one tattoo session were more likely to have melanoma, especially in situ. The reasons why that may be the case are speculative, and more research is needed to understand this disparate pattern.
According to the Pew Research Center, a third of American adults have tattoos. Around 41% of Americans under 30 have at least one, as do 46% of people between the ages of 30 to 49.
“Tattoos are increasingly common, and it’s an understudied form of environmental exposure, especially in young people,” said Doherty. “We really need to understand how tattoos could impact risk for different types of cancer. For melanoma, the results seem to be mixed. But we see people with two, three and four tattoo sessions having decreasing risk, and that’s a stronger pattern than the increased risk with just one session.”
Researchers had hypothesized more tattoos would increase melanoma risk
Doherty said that her research team originally hypothesized that having more tattoos would increase melanoma risk due to the carcinogens like metals and other chemicals found in tattoo ink. Additionally, the ink in a person’s skin can break down over time and create new carcinogens that weren’t originally in the tattoo. Tattoos can also cause inflammatory responses, and inflammation is often associated with cancer risk.
“The results that tattoos could decrease melanoma risk surprised us. But this isn’t a black and white case of ‘get more tattoos, and you could lower your risk of melanoma,’” said Rachel McCarty, former doctoral student at Huntsman Cancer Institute, current post-doctoral scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and first author of the study.
“Instead, we need to do more research to understand what we are seeing and if this decreased risk is simply due to behavioral or physical factors, or if there could be beneficial immune responses associated with tattooing that lower melanoma risk.”
Maybe those with more tattoo sessions take better care of skin
It may be that those with several tattoo sessions are more cautious with sun safety and take better care of their skin. Tattoos could also form a physical barrier that blocks ultraviolet radiation or cause an immune response against precancerous cells, the researchers say.
“Tattoo artists already advise their clients to wear sunscreen and sun protection to prevent tattoos from fading,” said McCarty. “We know wearing sunscreen is an important safety step for everyone, even without tattoos. But it’s also important for those with tattoos to take extra precautions to prevent any additional harmful components from forming in the skin when pigments break down from UV exposure.”
Decreased melanoma risk in this study, but maybe not for other types of cancer
While this study revealed a decreased melanoma risk for those with tattoos, that may not be true for other types of cancer. An earlier project from Doherty’s team and a Swedish study both suggest that tattooing could be connected to an increased risk of certain blood cancers.
Still, the melanoma study—whose results were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute—is a promising step forward in understanding how tattoos can impact skin cancer risk.
“The Mountain West and the area we serve have some of the highest melanoma rates in the country,” said Douglas Grossman, co-leader of the Melanoma Center at Huntsman Cancer Institute, professor of dermatology at the U, and co-author of the paper. “Better understanding risk factors for melanoma will help us improve prevention strategies across the region, advise our patients about risks more accurately, and ultimately save lives.”
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RVT1237
Tattoos are the triumph of short term thinking over long term thinking.
If you are 25 or 30 or so, ask yourself what that tattoo is going to look like when you are 65-90? Especially those on anatomies which tend to sag to say nothing of all the other spaces which will sag……