Cancer risk and microflora
Vaginal bacteria can determine the appearance of ovarian cancer
The lack of certain types of vaginal bacteria can increase the risk of ovarian cancer. This conclusion was reached by scientists from University College London (Vaginal bacteria linked to ovarian cancer).
It is no secret that any early detection of a dangerous disease increases the chances of a positive outcome of treatment. But, despite the successes achieved in the diagnosis of this type of cancer, approximately 75 percent of cases of this disease are detected at late stages.
Probably, the fact is that in the early stages of the development of the disease, women usually do not attach importance to the symptoms. Bloating and discomfort are often mistaken for more common and less serious conditions, such as menstrual pain and irritable bowel syndrome.
The exact cause of ovarian cancer is unknown, but there are some factors that increase the risk of its occurrence: age, heredity (that is, the presence of this disease and breast cancer in relatives), as well as overweight.
Today, researchers are increasingly reporting that the presence or absence of certain microorganisms can affect the development of certain diseases.
Taking this approach as a basis, Professor Martin Widschwendter and his colleagues from University College London studied samples taken from the surface of the cervix and vagina of 580 women aged 18 to 87 years. The participants lived in Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Norway and the UK.
Experts divided the women into three groups. The first was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the second inherited a mutation in the BRCA1 gene, and the representatives of the third group did not have a terrible disease or a gene mutation. This group was a control group.
Recall that a mutation in the BRCA1 gene increases the risk of ovarian cancer. Accordingly, women from the second group are more likely to be diagnosed with this diagnosis throughout their lives.
When scientists compared microorganisms taken from the surface of the cervix and vagina of women, it turned out that the number of lactobacilli was significantly less in women under the age of 50 with ovarian cancer or mutations in the BRCA1 gene. Let's explain that these bacteria convert lactose and other carbohydrates into lactic acid and create an environment that prevents the growth of many pathogenic bacteria and fungi.
Interestingly, in women from the control group, these beneficial bacteria dominated the vaginal microbiota.
Experts also found out that the young participants of the experiment with a mutation in the BRCA1 gene had a lack of lactobacilli. Thus, more than 25 percent of the subjects under the age of 30 had a small number of bacteria of this genus, while women of the same age without mutations did not notice a decrease in the number of these microorganisms.
"We were able to demonstrate for the first time that women with mutations in their genes have changes in their vaginal microbiota," said Professor Widschwendter.
Summing up, experts state that women with mutations in the BRCA1 gene and participants in the study with ovarian cancer had an equally low number of certain vaginal bacteria.
The data obtained allow scientists to link the risk of ovarian cancer with the number of beneficial vaginal bacteria. Experts emphasize that the data are preliminary, and it is not yet known exactly how these microorganisms affect the development of the disease. Future research will help to learn more about the relevant processes.
If further work proves that a healthy content of lactobacilli can really protect against the development of ovarian cancer, then perhaps specialists will be able to develop ways to change the vaginal microbiota of women. This will help reduce the risks of developing a dangerous disease.
In addition, the authors hope that the results of their study will help identify women with a high risk of ovarian cancer.
A scientific article on the results of the study was published in The Lancet (Nené et al., Association between the cervicovaginal microbiome, BRCA1 mutation status, and risk of ovarian cancer: a case-control study).
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