Water infections may link to bladder cancer

PEOPLE with water infections produce a Dna-damaging toxin suspected to be involved in cancer, warns a new study.

Researchers say their findings support the idea that urinary tract infections (UTIS) may play a role in bladder cancer.

The team found that the bacterial toxin, called colibactin, is produced in patients with UTIS.

A UTI study on mice also showed that colibactin-producing bacteria induced extensive DNA damage in bladder cells.

In light of their findings, the team recommend more specific follow-ups with patients who suffer from regular UTIS to look out for these markers.

Study author Dr Jeanphilippe Nougayrède, of the University of

Toulouse, France, said: “The findings support the idea that UTIS may play a role in bladder cancer.”

He added: “Our work suggests that there should be a more specific follow-up of patients regularly suffering from urinary tract infections, with a systematic search for colibactin markers.

“And also more proactively, by proposing therapeutic approaches aimed at modulating the composition of their intestinal microbiota, which represents the main reservoir of the E. coli bacteria involved in these urinary tract infections.”

UTIS are among the most common bacterial infections, affecting around 150 million people a year. The often uncomfortable infection is more common among women where three in five are diagnosed during their lifetime.