Tattoos and Lymphoma Risk: A Breast Cancer Survivor's Questions

I never imagined that something as personal as my tattoos would one day cause me to pause and question what I thought I knew about my health. As a 12-year breast cancer survivor, I have learned that surviving cancer changes more than your body; sometimes, it changes the way you look at almost everything that comes afterward.

I have 16 tattoos on my body. I received my first one in my 50s, an age when some people might think the desire to get a tattoo has long since passed, but for me, it was the beginning of something I continued to enjoy. Over time, I added more, each becoming part of my personal story. I never imagined that years later I would find myself reading a scientific study about tattoos and cancer and wondering whether those familiar markings might carry a risk I had never considered.

The Radiation Tattoos From My Breast Cancer Treatment

Six of my tattoos, however, were different from the others. I received them while undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer. They were not chosen for decoration or personal expression. They were placed on my skin to help the radiation therapists position me correctly beneath the linear accelerator, the machine used to deliver my radiation treatments. Those tiny marks served a serious purpose, helping ensure that my treatment could be delivered accurately each day.

At the time, I understood why they were necessary. I was focused on getting through treatment, following the medical team’s instructions and doing everything possible to put cancer behind me. The tattoos were simply part of the process. I did not stop to wonder about their long-term implications. My attention was on surviving the cancer I already had, not on a possible health concern that might emerge years later.

Now, after reading a study published in eClinicalMedicine in 2024, I find myself looking at my tattoos differently.

What a Swedish Study Found About Tattoos and Lymphoma

The study, titled “Tattoos as a Risk Factor for Malignant Lymphoma: A Population-Based Case-Control Study,” examined whether having tattoos might be associated with malignant lymphoma, a group of cancers involving the lymphatic system. Researchers in Sweden investigated this question because tattoo inks can contain substances of potential concern, and tattoo pigments have been found in lymph nodes. The long-term health consequences of these exposures remain incompletely understood.

The researchers studied 11,905 people, comparing individuals diagnosed with lymphoma with people of similar ages and sexes who had not received that diagnosis. They found that 21% of the participants with lymphoma had tattoos, compared with 18% of the control group. Their adjusted estimate suggested a possible 21% higher relative rate of lymphoma among tattooed participants, but the confidence interval included the possibility of no increased risk. In other words, the overall finding was suggestive, not conclusive.

That distinction matters. A possible association is not the same as proof that one thing causes another. The study’s authors called for additional research to determine whether tattoos play a causal role in lymphoma development.

Why Uncertain Findings Feel Personal After Cancer

Still, when you have already heard the words “You have cancer,” even an uncertain finding can feel deeply personal.

I know what it is like to sit on the other side of a medical conversation, waiting for information that could change your life. I know how cancer can alter your relationship with your body, turning something you once took for granted into something you examine more carefully. After a cancer diagnosis, information about potential risks can land differently. A headline that someone else might read with passing interest can leave a survivor asking questions long after the article has been put down.

I began wondering about my 16 tattoos. Does the number matter? Does the length of time I have had them matter? Could the six tiny tattoos I received during radiation treatment have different implications from the decorative tattoos I chose for myself? And could any of this affect my health in the future?

These are questions I cannot answer simply by reading one study, and I would not want another cancer survivor to assume the worst based on my concerns. The Swedish research did not establish that having more tattoos increases risk, and the researchers found no clear evidence that a larger total tattooed body area was associated with a higher risk. The study also did not specifically establish the long-term cancer risk of the tiny marks used to guide radiation therapy.

What This Means for Radiation Tattoos

That last point is particularly important to me. My radiation tattoos were part of a medical treatment plan, not a lifestyle choice. They helped the treatment team position me accurately during a time when precision mattered enormously. I would never want someone facing breast cancer to become frightened of medically necessary treatment because of a study that did not investigate that specific question.

Radiation therapy has an established role in treating certain breast cancers, and the small permanent marks used to guide treatment are one method clinicians may use to reproduce positioning accurately. Anyone concerned about the implications of their treatment-related tattoos should discuss those concerns with their radiation oncologist rather than assume the marks have harmed them.

What Newer Research Shows About Tattoos and Cancer

The larger question is what we know, and what we still do not know, about decorative tattoos and long-term health.

A 2024 study conducted in Utah also examined tattoos and hematologic cancers. Its findings did not demonstrate a clear overall association between tattoos and several major categories of blood cancer, although some analyses suggested possible associations with particular, less common cancer subtypes. The authors likewise emphasized the need for further research.

A subsequent systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2025 examined the available research on tattoos and lymphoma. It found no statistically significant association in its pooled analyses, while emphasizing that the evidence was limited and further high-quality studies were needed. This newer analysis is an important reminder that the scientific picture is still developing and that individual findings should not be treated as settled conclusions.

For now, I am left with questions rather than answers. I cannot say that my tattoos will negatively affect my health in the future, and the evidence does not justify that conclusion. I also cannot pretend that I feel no concern after reading about the possibility. Both things can be true: the research is inconclusive, and the questions it raises deserve attention.

Living With Uncertainty as a Cancer Survivor

Perhaps one of the most difficult parts of being a cancer survivor is learning how to live between those two realities. We want certainty, but medicine does not always provide it. We want assurances that the decisions we made years ago will never have consequences, but sometimes new research asks us to reconsider what we thought we understood. We must learn to remain informed without allowing every new finding to become another source of fear.

For me, that means asking my health care providers informed questions, keeping up with recommended cancer follow-up care and paying attention to changes in my health without assuming every unfamiliar symptom signals something terrible. It also means remembering that a scientific study is a starting point for understanding, not a personal diagnosis.

I am sharing this story because I suspect I am not alone. There are other cancer survivors with tattoos, including people whose markings were received during treatment. There are people who got their first tattoo later in life, as I did, and people who have collected them over decades. Many of us made those decisions without ever imagining that researchers might one day investigate a possible connection between tattoo ink and cancer.

We deserve clear information, careful research and honest conversations with our medical teams. We also deserve not to be frightened by conclusions that science has not yet established.

My tattoos remain part of my story. Some represent choices I made for myself; six remind me of a chapter when my life revolved around radiation appointments, medical equipment and the determination to survive. Looking at them now brings questions I never expected to ask, but it does not erase what they have meant to me.

Perhaps this experience has reminded me of something I learned when I first became a cancer survivor: knowledge is important, but so is perspective. I cannot control every uncertainty about my future. I can, however, remain curious, seek reliable information, speak openly with my doctors and make thoughtful decisions with what is known today.

Cancer has already taught me that life can change in a moment. It has also taught me that fear does not have to make every decision for me.

I may never know whether the ink beneath my skin carries any risk beyond what science can currently establish, but I refuse to let unanswered questions steal the life I fought so hard to reclaim. I will keep asking questions, keep learning and keep living, because surviving cancer was never just about getting more years; it was about having the courage to live those years, even when the answers are not yet written.

References

1. “Tattoos as a risk factor for malignant lymphoma: a population-based case-control study.” eClinicalMedicine. May 2024.
2. “Tattoos and risk of hematologic cancer: a population-based case-control study in Utah.” Cancer Medicine. Oct. 23, 2024.
3. “Investigating the potential association between tattoos and lymphoma: an exploratory systematic review and meta-analysis.” eClinicalMedicine. 2025.

This post was written and submitted by Bonnie Annis. The article reflects the views of Annis and not of CURE®. It is not intended as medical advice.

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