Insights into Porphyromonas somerae in Bladder Cancer Patients: Urinary Detection by ddPCR

To date, the increased awareness of the impact of microbes on human health has promoted scientific interest in microbiome studies for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, revealing correlations between specific taxa and cancer. In particular, numerous species of have been associated with several types of tumors. Previously, we studied the urobiome using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), and found an increase in in first morning urine of subjects affected by bladder cancer (BCa). Here, we aimed to confirm the presence of in BCa patients by using droplet digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (ddPCR), testing a cohort of 102 male subjects over 50 years. Our findings showed a significant increase in in the urine of the BCa group within both ddPCR and NGS, and a correlation between the two methods was observed at a statistical level. Moreover, identification with ddPCR confirmed a significant association between this bacterium and the presence of BCa, highlighting its potential role as a biomarker. This allows us to propose the ddPCR as a suitable method for first-stage BCa screening and follow-up.