Subclinical prostatic inflammation attributable to Chlamydia trachomatis in a patient with prostate cancer.

Chronic inflammation has long been linked to cancers with an infectious etiology. Subclinical intraprostatic inflammation is a frequent finding in prostatic specimens obtained during surgical procedures. Recent studies using biomolecular (amplification) methods showed that the incidence of cryptic bacterial infections of prostate gland may be underestimated. We present the case of 66 years old man with no symptoms of prostatitis in whom chronic Chlamydia trachomatis infection was diagnosed based on the patient's medical history and detection of chlamydial DNA in prostate biopsy specimen by means of ligase chain reaction. Two years later the patient was diagnosed with prostate cancer on repeated prostate biopsy.