(Robert Preidt/ HealthDay) — Men with inflammatory bowel disease have a significantly greater risk of prostate cancer, a new study finds.
About 1 million men in the United States have inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
“These patients may need to be screened more carefully than a man without inflammatory bowel disease,” said study lead author Dr. Shilajit Kundu.
Screening for prostate cancer begins with a blood test called a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. PSA is a substance made by the prostate gland.
“If a man with inflammatory bowel disease has an elevated PSA, it may be an indicator of prostate cancer,” said Kundu, an associate professor of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. (…)