ArticleJournal of the National Cancer Institute2025
Tattooing and risk of melanoma: a population-based case-control study in Utah.
Article in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review on Molecular Toxicology and Omics-Based Risk Assessment of Pigments Used in Dermal Implantation Procedures: Implications for Somatology and Somatic Therapy Practice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Is tattooing associated with an increased risk of cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Review
- Tattoos and risk of cutaneous melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer in France.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTattooing can deliver carcinogens directly into the skin and cause immunological responses, and yet the relationship between tattooing and melanoma risk is unknown.
methodsIn a population-based case-control study with 1167 melanoma cases (566 in situ; 601 invasive) and 5835 frequency-matched controls, we examined tattooing and melanoma risk using multivariable logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
resultsAlthough ever receiving a tattoo was not strongly associated with melanoma risk, heavier tattooing exposure was associated with decreased risk. Overall melanoma risk was decreased among individuals who had received 4 or more tattoo sessions (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.27 to 0.67) and individuals who had 3 or more large tattoos (OR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.54) compared with those who were never tattooed. Invasive melanoma risk was also decreased among individuals who received their first tattoo before age 20 (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.29 to 0.82) compared with never tattooed individuals.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that more tattoo exposure is associated with reduced melanoma risk, which does not support previously hypothesized associations between tattooing and increased melanoma risk. Unmeasured confounding is likely to contribute to our findings because we were not able to control for important melanoma risk factors. Potential causes of these associations could include sun exposure-related behaviors or immune responses to tattooing. Further investigation is warranted to clarify these relationships.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.