Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in France. More than one in two men is concerned following 65 years. Anticipating the evolution of cancer and its aggressiveness is a challenge for doctors. Researchers from the University of East Anglia in the UK have made an interesting discovery in the urine and prostate tissue of men with prostate cancer. ” We found several types of bacteria associated with aggressive forms prostate cancersome of which are new bacterial strains never discovered before », explains Rachel Hurstfirst author of the study.
Five bacteria implicated in prostate cancer?
The scientists analyzed urine and tissue samples from 600 men with and without prostate cancer. To isolate the bacteria samples, sequencing methods were used and made it possible to draw a portrait of the bacteria living near the prostate and the urinary tract. Among them, five new anaerobic bacterial strains (ie which develop only in the total absence of oxygen) are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.
This discovery raises many questions. ” Among the things we don’t yet know are how people catch these bacteria, whether they cause cancer, or whether a poor immune response allows them to grow. “says Rachel Hurst. If there seems to be a link between the aggressiveness of cancer and the presence of these bacteria, the underlying mechanisms have yet to be determined.
Scientists are already imagining a screening test where the presence of a certain type of bacteria in the urine and the prostate might be a warning signal for the progression of prostate cancer. The causal link between the presence…
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