Dr. Sharifi on the Rationale to Evaluate the Correlation Between the Gut Microbiome and Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Nima Sharifi, MD, director, Center for GU Malignancies Research, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, discusses the rationale to evaluate the correlation between the gut microbiome and the aggressiveness of prostate cancer.

Currently, the cause of aggressive prostate cancer remains unknown but is thought to be attributed to a mixture of genetic and environmental factors, Sharifi says. Moreover, prostate cancer is a common disease but only a fraction become lethal, Sharifi says. As such, a fraction of patients have indolent disease that does not require therapy, Sharifi explains.

Overall, the rationale for examining the gut microbiome in relation to aggressiveness of prostate cancer is based on trying to distinguish contributing factors for indolent and lethal prostate cancer and how to differentiate between the etiologies, Sharifi concludes.