# Oh, crap, you have breast cancer! Oh, wait, no, I mean, you have a TATTOO... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825 "2014-04-24T01:04:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/1 "2014-04-24T01:04:28Z")
That was rather terrifying. Not myself, but a good friend, had her first mammogram and Something Showed Up. A rather large Something, that was fairly unambiguously a mass, half an inch in diameter, in a lymph node in her armpit (where many breast cancers start). Doctor did a needle biopsy and it turned out to be…tattoo ink. Luckily, her doctor knew that [tattoo ink can sometimes migrate to the lymph nodes, cause swelling and mimicing metastatic melanoma](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1325237/)! Treatment: none at all, unless the swelling in the lymph node annoys her too much. Just a PSA. If you’re inked, ask your doctor if you’re a candidate for a needle biopsy of suspicious masses, rather than an excision or more dramatic surgery. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/2 "2014-04-24T02:05:11Z")
As if I needed another justification to never get a tattoo… ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/3 "2014-04-24T02:19:08Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > As if I needed another justification to never get a tattoo… \ ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/4 "2014-04-24T02:22:54Z")
I’ll keep that in mind! _warns tattoos to stay put_ ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/5 "2014-04-24T04:44:18Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Doctor did a needle biopsy and it turned out to be…tattoo ink. Pics or it didn’t happen – I’m always looking to augment my collection. 🆒 Back to seriousness, how scary that must’ve been for your friend. So glad to hear it turned out to be nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/6 "2014-04-25T13:49:19Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Pics or it didn’t happen – I’m always looking to augment my collection. 🆒 Reminder to keep oogling-type comments out of serious threads. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/7 "2014-04-25T19:10:01Z")
“Stop migrating!” she cried out lymphatically to her tittytoo “Mammagrammy is too old for this crap!”. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/8 "2014-04-25T20:25:12Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Reminder to keep oogling-type comments out of serious threads. Oogling? ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-crap-you-have-breast-cancer-oh-wait-no-i-mean-you-have-a-tattoo/686825/9 "2014-04-25T20:40:52Z")
Fascinating - I had no idea the ink could travel that far! Very glad for your friend that it wasn’t anything serious.