Urine Bug Bacteria Could be Linked to Aggressive Prostate Cancer: New Study

Urine bugs are possible symptoms of aggressive prostate cancer, according to scientists.

These bacteria were found not only in urine but also in tissue samples from men with the said deadly medical condition.

The research sheds light on finding potential treatments for adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Scientists have reportedly no clue of how infected people acquired the bugs or whether they are responsible for the disease.

However, targeting the bacteria is necessary and may result in significant results in the future in mitigating or curing prostate cancer.

Urine Bugs

In a new paper published in the European Urology Oncology on March 31, researchers from the Norfolk State University in Virginia and Norwich University in Vermont gathered samples from over 600 patients with or without prostate cancer.

In order to identify the microbes, the research team developed a bacteria-detecting method that led them to associate it with aggressive prostate cancer.

The result yielded the discovery of unknown pathogens never seen before.

Out of the five discovered bacteria species, the US scientists labeled two urine microbes in line with their research funders namely: Porphyromonas bobii after The Bob Champion Cancer Trust, and Varibaculum prostatecancerukia after the Prostate Cancer UK.

Previous Study

In a previous yet related study published in Science back in 2003, scientists have discovered that pods of bacteria, also referred to as bladder bugs, were found within the bladder cells of a mouse.

The researchers highlighted those microbes responsible for causing urinary tract infection (UTI) sometimes survive the attacks of antibiotics and the immune system of the body.

Despite these biological and medicinal measures, the said urine bugs re-emerge again to strike.

The findings of the 2003 study were uncertain at that time if the bacteria are also present in human bladder cells, making the 2022 research a ground-breaking discovery.

Prostate Cancer

Experts hope that the discovery of the novel bacteria in the new US study will pave the way for detecting or even preventing the dangerous benign and malignant tumors, claiming that it is "too soon" to tell if the bacteria cause the aggressive prostate cancer or are just a "helpful marker," as cited by the BBC.

Similar to the mechanisms of other types of cancer, it has long been thought that prostate cancer is only the abnormal growth of the prostate's mutated cells which can spread throughout the body.

Prevalent among males, the disease has been responsible for millions of deaths worldwide.

Cases in the United States

The American Cancer Society reported that one out of every eight men is likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.

The disease is likely to develop among older men, notably non-Hispanic Black men.

The organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia predicts that an estimated 268,490 people will be diagnosed with prostate cancer across the US in 2022, while 34,500 people will die from the malignant prostate tumor in the same year.

Some of the common types of prostate cancers or tumors that can start in the prostate gland are benign prostatic hyperplasia, enlarged prostate, acinar adenocarcinoma, small cell carcinomas, neuroendocrine tumors, transitional cell carcinomas, and sarcomas.