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Could the trillions of bugs in your digestive system affect the way this and other cancers progress? Here's what the latest science says.
Prostate cancer (PC) may be the most common cancer among men (after skin cancer) but no one knows why cells in the prostate sometimes go rogue. Or why some men develop a more aggressive form of the disease, while others have such slow-growing tumors that their symptoms are monitored for years without treatment. Risk factors include age, family history, possibly obesity, and race—Black men have a higher chance of developing PC, and they tend to develop it at younger ages. Now researchers are investigating the role that the microbiome may have in PC, especially the aggressive kind. Here is what scientists have found so far.
Microbes in Your Gut Work to Ward Off Disease
The gut is home to trillions of microbial organisms—bacteria, viruses, and fungi, all teeming inside your gastrointestinal (GI) digestive tract. They exist in communities, communicating with one another and providing checks and balances, explains Karen S. Sfanos, Ph.D., professor of pathology, oncology, and urology at Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore, MD. Besides helping digest food, these microbes also help regulate the immune system. But when harmful pathogens get the upper hand, damaging inflammation can be the result, which in turn may fuel many types of diseases, including cancer
“Some areas where people have had some success in [microbiome research] are obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and colorectal cancer,” says Juan Javier-Desloges, M.D., a urologic oncologist at UC San Diego Health in San Diego, CA. And prostate cancer? “There’s a lot of interesting research on whether the microbiome plays any role in the development, treatment [of], or outcomes for patients with prostate cancer. But we just have poor evidence that there’s any relationship,” says Dr. Javier-Desloges, who co-authored a review study on the topic. Still, there are some hints that your GI may be involved.
Dr. Sfanos and others have found that people with PC tend to have less diversity in their gut than healthy folks—“meaning, there are fewer types of bacteria and less diversity in the composition of the bacteria,” she explains. The more diverse your gut microbiome is, the better the organisms keep one another in balance. The less diverse, the more potential for disease-causing microbes that cause harm to take over and trigger disease, Diet may be to blame, especially those loaded with saturated fats and processed foods.
Men with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis may have a higher chance of developing prostate cancer, notes Dr. Sfanos. A possible reason? Some of the pro-inflammatory gut microbes that play a role in the development of IBD and colorectal cancer can be introduced into the prostate through the urethra, which runs through the prostate from the bladder, she explains. Another theory, she says: The increased number of inflammatory molecules circulating throughout the body with IBD may end up in the prostate, influencing cancer development there.
“We really do not know,” says Dr. Javier-Desloges. He cites a study where researchers from UC San Diego Cancer Center found that men with low-risk prostate cancer who ate seven servings of fruits and vegetables a day didn’t slow down cancer progression. Yet, another study published in Cancer found that men with low-grade PC who ate a Mediterranean diet had better outcomes. “It’s a complex interaction,” says Dr. Sharifi. “It’s not just about diet, and it's not just about gut microbiome, but how those things work together.” And your genes and environment may also be playing an important role,
All experts agree that more research is needed on the gut microbiome and its relation to prostate cancer. While scientists search for definitive answers, it makes sense to pay attention to your health overall. “The best advice, and it sounds generic because it's what we say for all cancers, is to maintain a healthy weight, exercise, eat high fiber foods, and lower stress levels,” . This decreases inflammation throughout your whole body, which is always beneficial in terms of cancer prevention and treatment, she explains. Plus, she adds, it can influence the makeup of the microbes in your gut.
Protect Your Gut - Protect Your Health
