Tattoos can hide malignant Melanomas, say experts

Case studies show that this can happen, and dermatologists say that people should keep ink-free soft

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay reporter

Wednesday, July 31 (HealthDay News)--millions of Americans head to the tattoo parlor to get "inked" each year, but a new study suggests that getting a tattoo over a birthmark or signal may not be healthy.

That's why having a tattoo on a signal especially can make it difficult to detect the development of skin cancer, the researchers said.

-Reports on July 31 in the journal JAMA Dermatology, researchers in Germany point to the case of a young man who developed melanoma in a pre-existing colored skin lesion (mole or birthmark) within a tattoo during and between the phases of laser tattoo removal.

Sixteen other cases of developing melanoma within tattoos were reported in English-language magazines, said that the authors of the study.

"In General, tattoos should never be placed in pigmented lesions; If they are, the tattoos should never be handled by the laser, "said the researchers, who were led by Dr. Laura Pohl of Laserklinik Karlsruhe.

Dermatologists in the United States agree that the moles should be forbidden areas for tattoos.

"Fifty percent of all melanomas develop in pre-existing moles," said Dr. Hooman Khorasani Icahn medical school at Mount Sinai in New York. "It is more difficult to do the monitoring on the moles that are covered with tattoos, the tattoo ink camouflages the mole and sometimes interferes with some of the tools we use for detection".

Tattoo removal can make soft surveillance too, he said.

"Once you start removing the laser, the laser can also remove the pigment that make melanoma cells called melanocytes," Khorasani said. "Therefore, any irregular pigment that one would expect for detect will not be detected so easily. This is the reason that some subtypes of melanoma, called the amelanótico melanoma, are more dangerous and aggressive. "

"If possible, avoid darker tattoos ink directly on the wart, as they can camouflage your wart and make monitoring more challenging," Khorasani advised patients considering a new tattoo.

If the removal is in order, "always your moles a biopsy before to have them treated with any type of laser," Khorasani said. "If you have a lot of moles under his tattoo, try consulting a dermatologist accredited twice a year instead of once a year," as recommended for the general population.

The German study authors agreed that regular skin reviews Khorasani should be conducted, while people are undergoing laser tattoo removal. If there is any suspicion about skin cancer, the lesion must be removed before starting the laser tattoo removal, they said.

Could help spur tattoos a melanoma? Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, said that "it is unlikely that the incidence of melanoma is higher in tattoos due to tattoo ink or process."

She agreed, however, with other experts that "the tattoo can hide a melanoma that is arising from previously normal skin or a mole that is covered by the ink of the tattoo".