Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) concluded that deregulation of the genital and urinary microbiota may be associated with the development of prostate cancer, the most diagnosed cancer in men aged 50 years and over.
The research, published in the scientific journal Cancers, establishes a relationship between prostate cancer and the deregulation of the microbiota [flora intestinal]revealing biomarkers”promising” for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, said this Monday, in a statement, the FMUP.
Using RNA sequencing technology, the researchers compared the composition and diversity of bacteria present in the urine, glans penis, and prostate gland of men with cancer and men without the disease.
Cited in the statement, the researchers point out that the “community of bacteria found in the urine of patients is clearly different from the bacteria tested in the urine of men without the disease” and that, in addition to a greater diversity of species, some types of bacteria are present in much higher numbers in the urine of patients with prostate cancer.
According to the authors, the results of the study “show that there is indeed a dysregulation of the microbiota in men with prostate cancer“.
This deregulation can promote chronic inflammation of the prostate and be involved in the development of this type of cancer”, they say.
The results of the study show “significantly higher levels” of bacteria such as Streptococcus, Prevotella, Peptoniphilus, Negativicoccus, Actinomyces, Propionimicrobium, and Facklamia in the urine of cancer patients.
In the glans penis of these patients, bacteria of the genus Stenotrophomonas stand out, and Alishewanella, Paracoccus, Klebsiella and Rothia bacteria stand out in the prostate.
These data may point to promising biomarkers in the early diagnosis of prostate cancer and help the scientific community and clinicians to find new therapeutic options”, they add.
The research is part of the project “SexHealth & Prostate Cancer: Psychobiological Determinants of Sexual Health in Men with Prostate Cancer” and its authors are Micael Gonçalves, Teresa Pina-Vaz, Ângela Rita Fernandes, Isabel Miranda, Carlos Martins Silva, Acácio Gonçalves Rodrigues and Carmen Lisbon.
Source: Observadora
