Microflora and breast cancer

The female breast's own microbiota can provoke or prevent cancer

XX2 CENTURY based on the materials of Scientific American: The Breast Has Its Own Microbiome--and the Mix of Bacteria Could Prevent or Encourage Cancer

The intestinal microbiota broke the bank of scientific and reader attention when not so long ago a boom in research of microorganisms living inside us and their connection with various health indicators began. However, the human microbiome is not only the intestine. Bacteria also live, for example, in the female breast. Moreover, the results of a recent study conducted under the leadership of Professor Gregor Reid at The University of Western Ontario, Canada, suggest that microbes living in the breast, even in small quantities, may play a role in the development of breast cancer, in some cases increasing the risk of it occurrence, in some, on the contrary, decreasing.

Breast cancer affects from one-thirteenth to one-eighth of all women aged 13 to 90 years in different countries. At the same time, its causes in most cases remain unknown. Age, genetic changes, diet and the environment are often somehow associated with the occurrence of neoplasms in the mammary gland, and, according to the growing amount of data from a new study, bacteria can also be one of such important environmental factors.

Back in the 1960s, a number of studies have shown that breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer, and more recent work has demonstrated that this may be because breast milk supports the growth of beneficial microorganisms.

Professor Reed and his team decided to continue this line of research. They analyzed bacterial DNA found in breast tissue samples of 58 women who underwent lumpectomy or mastectomy for benign or cancerous tumors, as well as in the tissues of 23 healthy women who underwent breast reduction surgery. They recorded higher levels of certain types of bacteria, including enterobacteria, staphylococci and bacilli in the breast tissues of women with cancer. Breast tissue of women without breast cancer contained more microorganisms of other types, such as lactococci and streptococci.

"There is actually nothing surprising in the fact that the breast is fraught with germs,– says the immunologist Delphine Lee, who studies breast cancer in John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica (John Wayne Cancer Institute), California, – She is influenced by the external environment through the nipple and duct system. Also, bacteria can enter the tissues through skin wounds and other ways. However, what we cannot be completely sure of is whether certain bacteria are located near a breast tumor because they cause this tumor, or because they simply thrive in a tumor environment."

If bacteria provoke cancer, how can they do it? Some microbes may be able to damage DNA, which in turn leads to cancer. Other bacteria can cause inflammation. The exact mechanisms, Reed says, should be further tested on animals. He hopes that scientists in the future will be able, at least, to use indicators of the content of certain bacteria in the tissues as biomarkers for the diagnosis of cancer, and in the best case, even develop probiotics for its prevention and treatment.

Article by Urbaniak et al. The microbiota of breast tissue and its association with tumours is published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  04.10.2016