In this presented study, the authors aim to conduct a systematic review of the current literature to address this issue in relation to the urinary, fecal, and prostatic microbiomes.
The authors conducted a systematic review of the known medical databases, and the search was completed with two independent reviewers. All studies examined the gastrointestinal or genitourinary microbiomes in prostate cancer. Figure 1 depicts the flow diagram detailing the systematic literature search and the outcome of the study selection that was included in this review.
The results demonstrated marked variation and heterogeneity. There was a high prevalence of Bacteroides that was consistently reported in fecal and urinary microbiomes of prostate cancer patients. Table 1 demonstrates the primary findings of the urinary, fecal, and prostatic microbiomes.
The authors concluded that study similarities between microbiome profiles suggest the possible association between the gastrointestinal and genitourinary microbiome and prostate cancer. However, this data is not yet conclusive due to the lack of available data. Large scale prospective controlled studies with inclusion of high-risk populations are needed.
Figure 1. Study flow diagram
Table 1. Summarized results
Presented by: Matthew Demasi, BS, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, The Bronx, New York
Written by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, MSc, Urology Department, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA, Twitter: @GoldbergHanan, at the 2020 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting, Virtual Experience #AUA20, June 27-28, 2020.