Did The 15-Year-Old Tattoo Cause The Cancer Of The Australian Woman? Doctors Think So; Report Shows
The tattoo is a common body modification these days. Thus, a lot of people sought to get one. Now, in a recent report, one woman is suffering from cancer and doctors suspected it is because of the tattoo ink.
The unnamed victim, who is a 30-year-old Australian woman, had come in with small lumps under her arms. She said that it is there for almost two weeks. Thus, the doctors then performed a body scan it showed that more enlarged lymph nodes in her chest. It also includes parts of her lungs.
They have recounted the strange case in a report that was released on Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. Christian Bryant, who is a hematologist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, one of the woman's doctors said that "Ninety-nine times out of 100, (this) will be lymphoma, according to Fox.
In the case of the Australian woman, her lymph nodes were inflamed because of the reaction to old tattoo ink. The doctors mentioned that it is not because of the cancer cells. Thus, the experts removed the lymph node from her armpit. They have found that a cluster of immune cells was loaded with black pigment, according to CNN.
As follows, the woman had a tattoo covering her back. Reports show that it has she had it for 15 years. There is also a recent one on her shoulder. Thus, a doctor that does not involve in the report, Bill Stebbins who is the director of cosmetic dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center said that. "The skin has its own immune cells that are always surveilling the skin.
In line, "The pigment is too large for these cells to eat and digest. That's why they're still there many years later." He added that once the immune cells found the tattoo pigment, a foreign substance. It will ingest it and travel from the skin to the lymph nodes over a period of years.
Meanwhile, the doctors could not determine why it would take 15 years after her tattoo that her body reacted. Thus, Dr. Bryant said that something at set off the immune cells and they cannot pin down the trigger. The patient noted that her tattoos would itch occasionally but only a few days each month.