Multigene analysis can discriminate between ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and irritable bowel syndrome

The future of molecular approaches to inflammatory bowel disease

Technological advances in genomics and transcriptomics have resulted in the introduction of molecular tests into the clinical arena. Despite established uses of such tests in the oncology field, their integration into the management of complex diseases has not been widely evaluated. Progress in the field of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) genetics has been rapid in recent years, and these advances have provided more urgent impetus to investigating the role of molecular tests in IBD. This article summarizes the current state of molecular testing available for IBD, and the potential utility of such tests as research in the area widens.

[Inflammatory bowel disease]

At DDW 2008 around 1000 abstracts on inflammatory bowel disease were presented. Our goal in this report is to summarize the most important new data on diagnosis, smoking and cancer related to IBD. MRI is emerging as a basic diagnostic tool in Crohn's disease. New data are accumulating demonstrating that smoking has a negative impact on natural history of CD even when treated in very specialized units, and with moderate tobacco use. When population-based studies are considered, colorectal cancer is not so a frequent complication as has been reported in referente centres. However, its incident does fully justify surveillance, although more and more data show that the key point to diminish the incidence of cancer is a good control of inflammation.