A new DNA test developed in the UK can accurately predict whether high-risk patients will develop colorectal cancer in the five years. People with inflammatory bowel disease — which includes conditions like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s — are up to four times more likely to get this type of cancer,

The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, could lead to a blood test which will inform doctors which inflammatory bowel disease patients are most at risk of cancer.

Experts hope to create a blood test to see which patients with inflammatory bowel disease are most at risk of bowel cancer.

A new method for detecting bowel cancer is more than 90% accurate at predicting which higher-risk people will develop the disease, according to research. About 500,000 people in the UK live with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD),