The intestinal-prostate axis in prostate cancer

The abundance of intestinal microbiota seems to be linked to the development of prostate cancer. But the involvement of the gut-prostate axis in the development of prostate tumors remains to be demonstrated. In this study, researchers used two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses to assess the links between gut microbiota and prostate cancer. According to the analyses carried out, the genus Eubacterium fissicatena and the genus Odoribacter were positively associated with prostate cancer. On the contrary, other genera appeared to be protective factors against prostate cancer: Adlercreutzia, Roseburia, Holdemania, Flavonifractor and Allisonella. Sensitivity analysis revealed no significant heterogeneity, horizontal pleiotropy or reverse causality in any of the causal associations.