Urinary Microbiota Composition in Treatment-Naïve Bladder Cancer: A Case-Control Study with Tumor Invasiveness...

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Microbiology
• Oncology

Background:

• Emerging evidence links genitourinary microbiota to urological malignancies.
• The role of the urinary microbiome in bladder cancer development and progression is under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the urinary microbiota in patients with bladder cancer at diagnosis.
• To compare urinary microbiota composition between bladder cancer patients and healthy controls.
• To investigate differences between muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Main Methods:

• 16S rRNA sequencing was used to analyze urine samples from 30 bladder cancer patients and 20 healthy controls.
• Subgroup analysis was performed for MIBC and NMIBC.
• Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) identified differentially abundant taxa.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in alpha or beta diversity were observed between groups.
• Firmicutes were relatively more abundant in bladder cancer patients.
• Enterococcus was the most abundant genus in bladder cancer patients, particularly in MIBC, while Lactobacillus was more prevalent in controls.
• Veillonella dispar was enriched in MIBC.
• LEfSe identified specific bacterial taxa enriched in either bladder cancer patients or controls.

Conclusions:

• Preliminary differences in urinary microbiota are associated with bladder cancer and tumor invasiveness.
• The findings suggest a potential role for the urinary microbiome in bladder cancer.
• Larger studies are required to confirm these exploratory findings and assess their clinical relevance.