CANCER PREVENTION IN PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with increased rates of malignancies; some are disease-related (like colorectal cancer) and some are primarily associated with therapy exposures. Although there may be an overlap between disease- and therapy-related cancers, the general strategy for prevention of cancer in patients with IBD lies in understanding the risk factors for these malignancies, educating patients about the recommended screening and surveillance practices, and incorporating general screening recommendations into routine IBD care. An important limitation to our understanding of the effectiveness of our intervention and prevention strategies is the lack of studies assessing mortality benefit, but in part also a reflection of the low mortality in our IBD population. In practice, it is imperative to weigh the risks of cancer or other treatment-related complications in the context of disease progression as a result of lack of or ineffective treatment for IBD when tailoring a management plan for each patient.