Inflammatory Bowel Disease tied to Prostate Cancer

Did you know that men with inflammatory bowel disease are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer? Here is the explanation.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by a range of gastrointestinal disorder symptoms including diarrhea, bloating and cramps. The most common types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease are Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative colitis.

The experts of gastroenterology define that men with inflammatory bowel disease have more than average PSA (Prostate-specific antigen) values and this group of men also significantly at higher risk of dangerous prostate cancer.

The connection between IBD and prostate cancer are not well-known. However, SMILES explains the link between IBD and gastrointestinal cancers such as colitis cancer and prostate cancer.

IBD and Prostate Cancer

Research studies revealed that after about age 60, PSA values are higher among men with than without IBD. If you are experiencing IBD symptoms, you need to be screened more carefully to check PSA levels and the risk of cancer. This is because a man with inflammatory bowel disease has an elevated PSA, it may be an indicator of prostate cancer, said Dr. Prasad, the best gastroenterologist at SMILES.

IBD treatment doctors often use the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test to diagnose prostate cancer. Generally, the PSA levels in the blood are low but if there is any significant increase it can be a sign of prostate cancer (PC).

The specialists of gastrointestinal issues suggest that it is important to note that men with IBD have higher PSA levels, most possibly due to chronic inflammation associated with the gastrointestinal condition.

Another possibility of increased risk of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract include colitis cancer, and prostate cancer among men with IBD may result from frequent symptoms of gastrointestinal disease. Several other studies state that certain inflammatory products such as C-reactive protein might boost PSA levels without the existence of prostate cancer.

To investigate the connection between IBD and gastrointestinal diseases, the scientists followed 1,033 men with IBD and 9,306 men without IBD as a control group. They followed the two groups of men for 18 years and found that men with IBD are at higher risk of prostate cancer and have higher PSA levels.

Link between IBD & PC - SMILES

How could Inflammatory Bowel disease increase your risk of prostate cancer? Our experts of inflammatory disease theorize that, rather than being due to excessive inflammation, it might be due to a reduction in immune surveillance.

Immune surveillance is your immune system’s ability to identify and destroy cancer cells before they begin to cause harm. IBD treatment doctors also explained that IBD and prostate cancer have a significant genetic predisposition. It may be due to the fact that some of the genes involved and shared across both conditions.

Because PSA levels in men with IBD are higher, they are often ignored. So, understanding the risk of prostate cancer in these people is therefore important to help you guide IBD treatment decisions.