The gender-specific urinary and bladder tissue microbiome in therapy-naive bladder cancer patients
Pederzoli F.,
Ferrarese R.,
Amato V.,
Locatelli I.,
Alchera E.,
Lucianò R.,
Nebuloni M.,
Clementi M.,
Montorsi F.,
Mancini N.,
Salonia A.,
Alfano M.
IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital/University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Dept. of Urology, Milan, Italy
IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Dept. of Microbiology and Virology, Milan, Italy
IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital/University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Dept. of Oncology, Milan, Italy
IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Dept. of Pathology, Milan, Italy
Luigi Sacco Hospital, Università degli Studi, Dept. of Clinical Sciences, Milan, Italy
Literature is growing regarding the existence of urinary microbiome and its possible role in the onset and progression of bladder cancer tumor. Moreover, recent studies investigated its possible role in predicting treatment response. Authors of this study investigated the gender specific urinary microbiome of bladder cancer patients compared to age matched controls to establish how much the urinary microbiome is representative of bladder tissue. They analyzed a total of 160 samples, including morning, mid-stream voided urines from 47 therapy naïve patients (36 males, 11 females) undergoing radical cystectomy for muscle invasive bladder cancer and from 51 age matched healthy controls (26 males, 25 females) plus bladder tissue specimens (paired bladder cancer/ non bladder cancer tissues) of 31 patients (21 males, 10 females). Microbiome was analyzed up to the species level by performing amplification of the V3-V5 region of 16S rRNA. They found differences exists regarding urinary microbiome in bladder cancer patients and age matched controls. Specifically, Firmicutes were enriched in bladder cancer males, Enterococcaceae family was present only in bladder cancer patients, with the increase of Enterococcus spp, while lactobacillus iners was absent in urinary microbiome of bladder cancer female. Future studies need to test urinary microbiome as a non-invasive biomarker to monitor bladder cancer and response to therapy.
Literature is growing regarding the existence of urinary microbiome and its possible role in the onset and progression of bladder cancer tumor. Moreover, recent studies investigated its possible role in predicting treatment response. Authors of this study investigated the gender specific urinary microbiome of bladder cancer patients compared to age matched controls to establish how much the urinary microbiome is representative of bladder tissue. They analyzed a total of 160 samples, including morning, mid-stream voided urines from 47 therapy naïve patients (36 males, 11 females) undergoing radical cystectomy for muscle invasive bladder cancer and from 51 age matched healthy controls (26 males, 25 females) plus bladder tissue specimens (paired bladder cancer/ non bladder cancer tissues) of 31 patients (21 males, 10 females). Microbiome was analyzed up to the species level by performing amplification of the V3-V5 region of 16S rRNA. They found differences exists regarding urinary microbiome in bladder cancer patients and age matched controls. Specifically, Firmicutes were enriched in bladder cancer males, Enterococcaceae family was present only in bladder cancer patients, with the increase of Enterococcus spp, while lactobacillus iners was absent in urinary microbiome of bladder cancer female. Future studies need to test urinary microbiome as a non-invasive biomarker to monitor bladder cancer and response to therapy.