Understanding Patient Perspectives on Radiation Tattoos
Bonnie Hu, Anurag Saraf, Andrew Johnson, Hope Heldreth, Idalid Franco, Brenda Lormil, Jason A Efstathiou, Florence K Keane, Ariel Hirsch, Rachel B Jimenez · 2026
Read Understanding Patient Perspectives on Radiation Tattoos by Bonnie Hu, Anurag Saraf, Andrew Johnson, Hope Heldreth, Idalid Franco, Brenda Lormil, Jason A Efstathiou, Florence K Keane, Ariel Hirsch, Rachel B Jimenez (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13316444.txt.
Description
Bonnie Hu and co-authors published a 2026 study on how patients feel about the permanent tattoos used to line up radiation therapy. The tiny skin marks are standard care, guiding beams to the same spot each session. Earlier work suggested the marks can distress cancer patients long after treatment ends. The team surveyed three hundred tattooed patients at two Boston hospitals.
One in five reported distress from the tattoos. Age mattered sharply: nearly half of patients under fifty were distressed, against one in nine of those over sixty-five. Not understanding why the tattoos were needed also raised distress. Language played a role as well. The authors argue the findings point to simple fixes: explain the marks' purpose clearly, especially to younger patients, and consider tattoo-free alignment where possible. A small permanent mark, they show, can carry a long emotional tail that clinics can soften.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Bonnie Hu, Anurag Saraf, Andrew Johnson, Hope Heldreth, Idalid Franco, Brenda Lormil, Jason A Efstathiou, Florence K Keane, Ariel Hirsch, Rachel B Jimenez |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 24 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |