Tattoos May Increase Risk of Lymphoma by 21 Percent, Study Finds

‘One can only speculate that a tattoo, regardless of size, triggers a low-grade inflammation in the body, which in turn can trigger cancer.’

A tattoo artist at work. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Getting a tattoo is correlated to developing a rare type of blood cancer—regardless of the size of the tattoo, a new study has found.

Researchers from Lund University in Sweden said that tattoos may increase the risk of developing lymphoma by 21 percent. They analyzed 11,905 participants, including 2,938 who had lymphoma, between the ages of 20 and 60.