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,

Research that has not yet been peer-reviewed shows the newest blood test is more than 80% accurate in detecting colon cancer in people who had the disease. The test is 90% accurate in ruling out cancer in healthy adults, according to the study published Monday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The method could be used to develop a blood test to identify inflammatory-bowel-disease patients most at risk.