Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 13, 2025
Characterization and Functional Prediction of Bacteria in Ovarian Tissues
Published on: October 23, 2021
Gynecologic Oncology Patients have Urobiomes that are Similar to Women Without Gynecologic Cancer
Anisa Nasse1, Abigail Winder2, Melline Fontes Noronha1
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA.
Introduction And Hypothesis:
To compare the bladder microbiomes of participants with and without a gynecological cancer at the time of diagnostic surgery to determine their suitability as control participants in urobiome research studies.
Methods:
IRB-approved clinical sample of continent adult female patients undergoing surgery for suspected gynecologic malignancy. Participants contributed clinical data (abstracted from the electronic medical record), and a catheterized urine sample obtained prior to antibiotic administration on the day of surgery. The study urine sample underwent DNA sequencing following amplification of hyper-variable region 4 (V4) of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. The sequences were processed, annotated, and decontaminated. Alpha (within-sample) and beta (between-sample) diversity indices were computed, and the microbiome compositions across all participants were compared.
Results:
Ninety-two women participated, including 20 with a gynecological cancer diagnosis and a comparison group of 72 without gynecologic cancer detected. The mean age was 53 years old (range 22-92) with a mean BMI of 31 kg/m2 (26-38 kg/m2); the majority (62%) were White. We observed no significant difference in the bladder microbiomes of the group with a cancer diagnosis and the controls.
Conclusions:
Participants with a gynecological cancer diagnosis can be used as controls for bladder microbiome studies.
