A New Approach to Imaging and Rapid Microbiome Identification for Prostate Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy
Maślak et al.
The finding, in our words
In 50 prostate cancer patients, first‑void urine collection captured bacteria more frequently than midstream sampling (87.8% versus 75.3% of specimens), and radiotherapy caused a temporary reduction in urinary microbiome species richness. These findings validate first‑void sampling for decentralised microbiome monitoring in oncology.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
In a small proof-of-concept, first-void urine and cervicovaginal brushes yielded high-quality vaginal microbiome profiles in most participants, comparable to vaginal swabs, offering non-invasive, user-friendly alternatives for research; however, storage at room temperature altered microbial composition in some first-void urine samples, indicating a need for careful handling.
Women with chlamydial infection show reduced microbial diversity in first-void urine, with depletion of Mycoplasmataceae and Ureaplasma parvum and elevated hippurate and lactulose. This demonstrates that urine microbiome and metabolome analysis can reveal infection signatures, supporting decentralised STI screening approaches.
Among 196 women providing first-void urine, bacterial vaginosis correlated with Gardnerella biofilms on vaginal cells (88–90% of cases) and inversely with Lactobacillus biofilms. This confirms bacterial growth form as a diagnostic marker for vaginal dysbiosis, though no association was found with UTI symptoms, HIV status, or discharge.
In patients undergoing upfront MRI and image-guided biopsy, adding MDx-2 RNA biomarker scores and embedded clinical variables to PI-RADS-v2 improved prediction of high-grade prostate cancer compared with PI-RADS-v2 alone (AUC 0.80 vs 0.67), though the two combined models did not differ significantly, suggesting that biomarkers and clinical predictors in MDx-2 require reassessment in this diagnostic pathway.
HPV DNA was detected significantly more often in first-void urine from patients with urothelial carcinoma than from controls, indicating an association between HPV infection and bladder cancer.