Tattoos and risk of cutaneous melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in France
Menée notamment à partir de données de l'étude "Cancer Risk Attributable with the Body Art of Tattooing" (CRABAT), cette étude analyse l'association entre le tatouage et le risque de cancer de la peau (1 789 cas)
With the increasing popularity of decorative tattooing, which entails the intradermal injection of inks that may contain carcinogens, investigating the related potential skin cancer risk is a public health priority.We used data from the Cancer Risk Attributable with the Body Art of Tattooing (CRABAT) study, nested in the French national cohort Constances (adults aged 18–69 years recruited in 2012–2018). Tattoo exposure was collected in 2020–23. Skin cancers overall, cutaneous melanoma (CM), and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) diagnosed during 2007–2021 were retrieved from national health insurance data. As exposure was collected after possible disease ascertainment, risks of skin cancer with prior tattoo exposure were assessed using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models in a retrospective cohort design.Among 111074 participants, 1789 skin cancers (1.6%) were recorded (693 CM, 1096 NMSC). No association was found between binary tattoo exposure (yes/no) and any skin cancer type. In the highest exposure category of tattoo body surface (>2 hand palms), 2 cases were observed among 1633 participants (0.1%), yielding an odds ratio of 0.21 for overall skin cancer (95% CI: 0.05–0.83; reference no tattoos); however, the corresponding Cox model was not significant (HR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.07–1.05).No overall association between tattoo exposure and skin cancer was observed. The inverse association in the highest exposure category is based on very few cases and should be interpreted with caution. Further studies with larger case numbers and more detailed exposure assessment are warranted.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute , article en libre accès, 2025