U of I researchers link bacteria to prostate cancer growth

Yahoo

11-06-2025

CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A study 10 years in the making has helped University of Illinois researchers link urinary tract bacteria to prostate cancer.
The study was led by Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) member and Associate Professor of Animal Sciences Jason Ridlon. Ridlon found that bacteria in the urinary tract can turn corticosteroids, a kind of medicine, into hormones that help prostate cancer grow.
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, corticosteroids can treat many causes of inflammation in your body and are a manufactured version of cortisol, a hormone the body naturally produces. Corticosteroids are often prescribed for conditions like lupus, asthma and carpal tunnel syndrome, among other conditions.
The CCIL said the researcher's work studying the link between urinary tract bacteria and prostate cancer began in 2015. Ridlon hypothesized that bacteria found in the gut and urinary tract may be related to hormone-driven cancer.
'When we obtained our first isolate that generated androgens, we thought, 'Eureka!' The hypothesis has some plausibility,' Ridlon said.
In hormone therapy, also called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), the number of male hormones, known as androgens, is reduced, to stop them from increasing prostate cancer cell growth. But during the study, the researchers found that bacteria converted drugs used in androgen-deprivation therapy into androgens, which stimulated cancer cell growth.
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During the study, the team worked to grow diverse bacteria and secure funding. They identified two bacterial genes (desF and desG) which make hormone-like compounds. And, they found that a hormone called epitestosterone, which once was largely considered to help block cancer, actually caused prostate cancer cells to grow.
They also studied a bacteria called Propionimicrobium lymphophilum, linked to prostate cancer, which may help produce androgens.
'Bacteria in our bodies are an overlooked part of our hormone system,' Ridlon said.
Joseph Irudayaraj, professor of bioengineering and CCIL Associate Director of Shared Resources, developed the microbial bead technology used in the experiments.
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'When we developed the microbial bead technology, we did not realize the broad impact of its applications,' Irudayaraj said. 'Saeed Ahmad, a bioengineering doctoral student in our team, however, was instrumental in extending the methods to encapsulate anaerobic bacteria in the beads – this formed the basis for all co-culture studies to assess the role of these class of microbes on prostate cancer proliferation.'
Now, the team is building on their research. Ridlon's Sterolbiome Lab focuses on how microbes affect steroid hormones, which could help find drugs that block harmful bacterial hormones. Irujayaraj added that the work on prostate cancer can be extended to other hormonal cancers, such as breast cancer. And the researchers said that the team is mapping additional bacterial pathways that metabolize steroids.
Initial funding came from the CCIL. The team also received funds from the National Cancer Institute, Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the Department of Defense. Karen Sfanos, a Professor of Pathology at Johns Hopkins University, collaborated with the team on the study.
The research was published in Nature Microbiology. You can read more about it here.
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