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Background: Approximately one-third of US adults have a tattoo, and the prevalence is increasing. Tattooing can result in long-term exposure to carcinogens and inflammatory and immune responses., Methods: We examined tattooing and risk of hematologic cancers in a population-based case-control study with 820 cases diagnosed 2019-2021 and 8200 frequency-matched controls, ages 18-79 years. We calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models., Results: The prevalence of tattooing was 22% among Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) cases, 11% among non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cases, 16% among myeloid neoplasm cases, and 15% among controls. Though there were no clear patterns of associations between ever receiving a tattoo and risk of HL, NHL, or myeloid neoplasms overall, in analyses restricted to ages 20-60 years, ever receiving a tattoo (OR 2.06 [95% CI 1.01, 4.20]) and receiving a tattoo 10+ years prior (OR 2.64 [95% CI 1.23, 5.68]) were associated with an aggregated group of rarer mature B-cell NHLs. We also observed elevated risks for a 10+ year latency for myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic myeloid leukemia (OR 1.48 [95% CI 0.40, 5.41], and OR 1.24 [95% CI 0.45, 3.43], respectively)., Conclusions: Though estimates were imprecise, we found some suggestive evidence that tattooing may be associated with an increased risk of certain hematologic cancer subtypes. With an estimated 46% prevalence of tattooing in US individuals ages 30-49, additional studies are needed to understand the degree to which these exposures may be associated with hematologic cancer risk., (© 2024 The Author(s). Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

There are limited data about the tattoo removal process in formerly gang-involved and incarcerated people of color. This single center retrospective study was conducted on patients treated at Homeboy Industries' Ya'Stuvo Tattoo Removal Clinic between January 2016-December 2018. It reviewed data on 2,118 tattoos, and a representative sample of 502 patients was used to conduct our analysis. Treatment on 118 of the tattoos (5.57%) resulted in at least one complication (hypo-or hyper-pigmentation, keloids, or scarring). Patients who experienced tattoo removal complications (7.3%) were less likely to return to complete the removal process. More complications were experienced with higher fluences of energy, on tattoos placed by professional artists, on colored tattoos, and tattoos on clients who had a greater number of treatments. The study highlights complications and best practices in tattoo removal in people of color, a process critical to the reintegration and gang disengagement of this vulnerable population.