In an online April 18th, 2014 publication in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, Johns Hopkins researchers reveal a link between chronic inflammation and a greater risk of high-grade prostate cancer. The study included 191 men with prostate cancer and 209 controls without the disease who received a placebo in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, which evaluated the effect of the drug finasteride on prostate cancer prevention. Biopsies conducted at the end of the study provided information on the presence of inflammation in benign prostate tissue. Among men who had inflammation in one or more of the biopsy cores, there was a 78% higher risk of having prostate cancer and more than twice the risk of aggressive disease in comparison with men who had no cores indicating inflammation. This observational study reveals an association between prostate inflammation and prostate cancer, although it is not proof that inflammation is the cause of prostate cancer.