Every 12 months, approx 12,000 men died of prostate cancer within the UK (). But much more people die from prostate cancer. Therefore, it will be significant to know whether the disease will progress quickly or to not know what to treat.
Our latest study, published in European Urology Oncology, allowing us to higher understand which cancers will progress quickly and aggressively and which can not. Part of the reason for these evolutionary differences lies within the five sorts of bacteria.
It's surprising… without being one. In recent years, it has been shown that pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) may cause cancer. We know, for instance, that it's related to Stomach cancer and may cause human papillomavirus (HPV). Lower uterine cancer. There can also be growing evidence that bacteria are involved. Colorectal cancer.
Five bacteria were identified.
Here at Norwich Medical School, together with our colleagues at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, the Quadrum Institute and others, we've identified Five types (genera) of bacteria Associated with aggressive prostate cancer. These are , , , and . We call them the anaerobic bacteria biomarker set, or ABBS (anaerobic meaning they'll grow within the absence of oxygen).
Bacterial genera are themselves divided into “species,” just as we're ourselves into genera and species. And here we found 4 completely recent species of bacteria, three of which belong to genera related to aggressive prostate cancer (two of those recent genera were named after our funders: the Bob Champion Cancer Trust and the Prostate Cancer After the UK).
To see in the event that they had a big effect, we examined urine and tissue samples taken from the prostates of 600 men with and without prostate cancer. And we found that when any of those five anaerobic bacteria were detected in patient samples, it was related to a more aggressive type of cancer.
In fact, men who had a number of of those bacteria were nearly 3 times more more likely to develop early-stage cancer into advanced disease than those that had none of those microorganisms of their urine or prostate. was not.
We also revealed potential mechanisms of the association between these bacteria and cancer, including possible effects on the metabolism of human host cells.
Towards improved screening tests
Current prostate cancer screening tests, eg PSA (prostate specific antigen) test And biopsies, usually are not at all times in a position to predict which cancers will likely be dangerous.
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We hope that a brand new method, which detects our ABBS group of bacteria, will have the option to detect and screen for potentially aggressive prostate cancer. This recent sort of test could also be much like a test developed to detect HPV related to stomach cancer or cervical cancer.
We are currently working on it. We plan to develop a reliable and rapid test to detect the five characteristic bacteria we've identified. They may also help develop recent treatment options to remove them from the urethra, bladder and prostate.
But this exciting discovery is actually in its early stages. There are still necessary inquiries to be answered, akin to: Does bacteria cause prostate cancer? If yes, how? Furthermore, can we use therapeutic options to eradicate the bacteria to stop the event of aggressive disease? We hope to get answers to those questions soon.