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PROSTATE CANCER

IBD as a risk factor for prostate cancer: what is the link?

Nature Reviews Urology volume 16, pages 271–272 (2019)Cite this article

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Chronic inflammation in the prostate is a suspected risk factor for prostate cancer. Burns and colleagues implicate chronic inflammation in prostate cancer development, albeit from an unexpected source — the gastrointestinal tract. This new study implicates a history of inflammatory bowel disease with an increased risk of a prostate cancer diagnosis.

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Fig. 1: Potential mechanisms underpinning a causal association between IBD and prostate cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) for ongoing research support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Karen S. Sfanos

  2. Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Karen S. Sfanos & Corinne E. Joshu

  3. Department of Urology, James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Karen S. Sfanos

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Corinne E. Joshu

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  1. Karen S. Sfanos
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  2. Corinne E. Joshu
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Correspondence to Karen S. Sfanos.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Sfanos, K.S., Joshu, C.E. IBD as a risk factor for prostate cancer: what is the link?. Nat Rev Urol 16, 271–272 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-019-0157-7

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