Twin Study Uncovers Surprising Cancer Risk After One Twin Got Tattoos And The Other Didn’t

For a lot of people, tattoos are a form of self-expression, art, or a way to carry something meaningful with them forever. But now, a new study has raised concerns about a possible unexpected connection between getting inked and developing cancer.

Tattoos have been around for way longer than most people realize, and over time, society’s opinion about them has changed a lot. Even though the way they’re viewed has evolved, the practice of getting inked with words, symbols, or images doesn’t seem to be going out of style anytime soon.

That being said, scientists are now looking into the potential risks linked to tattoo ink—especially ones we might not have fully understood until recently, like how it might relate to cancer.

Back in March, a group of researchers from the University of Southern Denmark, specifically from the Departments of Public Health and Clinical Research, carried out a study focusing on twins. Their aim was to see if there was any difference in cancer risk between twins where one had tattoos and the other didn’t.

The research came from the Danish Twin Tattoo Cohort, which included detailed data from over 5,900 Danish twins. That’s a pretty sizable and focused group to study these kinds of health patterns.

The research paper was titled 'Tattoo ink exposure looks at the risks of lymphoma and skin cancers - a Danish study of twins', and it dug into whether tattoo ink could possibly be linked to cancer-related outcomes in these individuals.

The twin with tattoos may have a slightly higher risk of developing skin cancer Getty Stock Image

According to the researchers, they wanted to find out whether chemicals in tattoo ink might trigger inflammation in the lymph nodes. If that happened, it could potentially lead to abnormal cell growth, which might increase the chances of getting cancer.

To explore that idea, they pulled cancer diagnosis records from the Danish Cancer Registry and combined that with tattoo exposure information gathered from the 2021 Danish Twin Tattoo survey. The results showed that the twins with tattoos were about 1.62 times more likely to be diagnosed with skin cancer than their siblings who didn’t have tattoos.

Henrik Frederiksen, a hematology consultant at Odense University Hospital and clinical professor at SDU, shared more about what the findings might mean and how they were interpreted by the research team.

He explained: "We can see that ink particles accumulate in the lymph nodes, and we suspect that the body perceives them as foreign substances."

"This may mean that the immune system is constantly trying to respond to the ink, and we do not yet know whether this persistent strain could weaken the function of the lymph nodes or have other health consequences."

The team behind the study is especially worried about how tattoo ink might lead to long-term, chronic inflammation in the lymph nodes. Over time, that kind of stress on the immune system could increase the chance of abnormal cell development, which is often linked to cancer.

The authors have insisted more research is needed around this topic Getty Stock Image

On top of that, researchers believe that the size of a person’s tattoo might also play a role in how much risk they face when it comes to developing cancer.

However, they also made it clear that a lot more research is still needed. They don’t yet know whether some specific ink pigments pose a higher risk than others, or if only certain types of lymphoma are more strongly tied to tattoos. These are still open questions that future studies will need to explore.

How worried should I be about cancer when getting a tattoo?

Despite the findings, Signe Clemmensen—one of the researchers who helped lead the study said people shouldn’t panic or be scared off from getting tattoos just yet.

Speaking with New Scientist, she said: "What I would say to someone with a tattoo or perhaps considering getting a tattoo, is that it's not something they should be overly concerned about yet."

Rachel Orritt from Cancer Research UK also weighed in and shared her take: "There isn't enough evidence to say that tattoos increase people's cancer risk; more research is needed."