Urine bugs may be linked to aggressive prostate cancer

Scientists say they have identified urine bacteria which may be a sign of aggressive prostate cancer, raising the hope that the discovery may provide new ways to spot and even prevent these tumours.

The research team at the University of East Anglia which discovered the link plan more work to see if clearing the infection may prevent the aggressive tumours.

Bacterial infections are known to play a part in the development of other cancers – a bug known as H. pylori can trigger stomach cancer, and a course of antibiotics may remove this risk.

Prostate cancer is not always life-threatening, some tumours are slow-growing and can safely left alone and monitored.  However, the challenge is diagnosing and quickly treating patients who have the aggressive and fast growing tumours that harm, whilst sparing others from unnecessary treatment.

Current tests which are available, such as a biopsy and the PSA blood check, are not always able to predict which cancers will be harmful.

For the latest research, scientists studied more than 600 patients with and without prostate cancer to determine how useful the urine bacterial test was.  Five types of bacteria were identified which were common in urine and tissue samples from men whose cancers went on to be aggressive.

Dr Rachel Hurst, a member of the research team, said “Among the things we don’t yet know is how people pick up these bacteria, whether they are causing the cancer, or whether a poor immune response permits the growth of the bacteria.

“But we hope that our findings and future work could lead to new treatment options, that could slow or prevent aggressive prostate cancer from developing.  Our work could also lay the foundations for new tests that use bacteria to predict the most effective treatment for each man’s cancer.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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