016 min read
Tattoos, lymph nodes and cancer: what the studies really say
Over the last two years studies have accumulated linking tattoo pigment to lymph nodes and, with conflicting results, to cancer risk. Press headlines have moved from "tattoos raise lymphoma risk" to "no proven link" depending on the article. This piece puts things in order: it distinguishes what is observed in animal models and tissues, what emerges from observational studies and what the most recent reviews say, and explains why apparently opposite results can coexist. It gives no medical advice: for personal doubts the right person is a doctor.
