Urine bugs may be a sign of aggressive prostate cancer

Urine bugs may be a sign of aggressive prostate cancer

Scientists say they have identified urine bacteria which are linked to aggressive prostate cancer.

The discovery might provide new ways to spot and even prevent these dangerous tumours, experts hope.

This may also change the way urine cultures are done or may already have changed it. Urine is usually sterile. However, a sample was/is plated to a blood agar plate, a chocolate agar plate and a MacConkey agar plate. ALL are incubated aerobically. None are incubated anaerobically.
Fascinating development. Added to the supposition that these bacteria may be hormone producing and/or stimulating is mind boggling and ground breaking.

This may finally end the PSA tests, which have shown to be without merit.

PSA Worthless for Prostate Cancer Screening?

This study is from 2016 and suggests expanded methods for urine cultivation. Only women provided samples for the study.
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JCM.00044-16

Whether or not the above suggestions have been implemented as the new standard remains to be seen.
One of the most annoying aspects of urine culture is the lack of instruction on how to properly provide a sample to eliminate contamination which results in overgrowth on the plates and an impossible situation for the microbiologist to decipher. It wastes time and money and most certainly does not benefit the patient in any way.
I know the above is a segue from Plan B's original post but it is important to know whether you're male or female and whether the bacterial detection is to determine the cause of a UTI or prostate cancer causing organisms. The results are only as good as the sample provided.

Also off topic, but something interesting I read years ago regarding prostate problems, is that in women, zinc is distributed throughout the body, but in men, 80% of the zinc in their system is stored in the prostate. So it must play some role in the health of the prostate, and this article was suggesting that a lack of zinc in the diet then leads to prostate problems and that men in particular should have their zinc levels tested and if low, to take supplements or add foods to their diet that are high in zinc (and not that many foods are).

Plan B wrote:Urine bugs may be a sign of aggressive prostate cancer

Scientists say they have identified urine bacteria which are linked to aggressive prostate cancer.

The discovery might provide new ways to spot and even prevent these dangerous tumours, experts hope.

Bacteria are not bugs-they are bacteria.

"Bugs" is a colloquial term that is used to mean a bacteria, virus or parasite.
Bacteria are not, of course, literally insects. Most people are well aware of that.