New bacterial species found in prostate cancer patients’ DNA
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Researchers at the University of East Anglia identified 18 new bacterial species within DNA samples from 194 prostate cancer patients.
The team analyzed discarded data from existing genome sequencing, normally considered unusable “noise”, and rebuilt bacterial genomes from the fragments. Most of these bacteria originated in the mouth, including species of Porphyromonas and Treponema, some of which have been previously linked to more aggressive cancers. The scientists gave provisional names to 16 of these new organisms, like Candidatus Porphyromonas leptis.
This discovery matters because many microbes involved in disease are difficult to study due to a lack of reference genomes and detection methods, hindering research into their role in cancer development. The team also developed a test to detect one of the species. This research builds upon the work of the Pan Prostate Cancer Group, a global collaboration analyzing molecular data from over 2,000 prostate cancers.
Researchers hope to determine if these bacteria contribute to cancer progression, potentially leading to new diagnostic tools or treatments. They emphasize that this is an early stage of research, but finding and characterizing these bacteria is a necessary step toward understanding their impact on the disease.
