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Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Microfluidic Co-culture of Renal Healthy and Tumor Epithelium to Model Kidney Cancer Progression
Published on: January 31, 2025
The Microbiome in Benign Renal Tissue and in Renal Cell Carcinoma
Stefan Heidler1, Lukas Lusuardi2, Stephan Madersbacher3
1Department of Urology, Landesklinikum Mistelbach, Mistelbach, Austria, stefanheidler@gmx.at.
Introduction:
The renal bacterial colonization has not been explored so far.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to describe the renal microbiome and to determine differences of the renal microbiome in healthy and tumor-bearing parenchyma.
Methods:
Ten biopsies from patients undergoing laparoscopic nephrectomy for renal carcinoma with no history of urinary tract infections within the last 6 months were included in this study. The identification of all microorganisms was done using 16S DNA sequencing. The beta diversity analysis was performed by Bray-Curtis dissimilarity.
Results:
In all kidney samples, a plethora of microorganisms was found, with significant differences between benign and malignant renal tissue (p < 0.0001).
Conclusions:
There is evidence that healthy kidney tissue as well as renal cell cancer tissue have a specific microbiome, thus opening new perspectives in renal physiology and tumor pathogenesis.
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