Bacteria in the Vagina Determines Ovarian Cancer Risk

Ovarian Cancer: Absence of Symptoms Increases the Severity of Spreading Multifold Times

The gut microbiota has been in the limelight for a couple of years for its strong effect on our health. Now, maybe its time for the vaginal bacteria to show its power for a while! Women with a high risk of ovarian cancer have low levels of vagina-friendly bacteria and so do women who are diagnosed with the disease according to a new study.
Ovarian cancer is a type of cancer which begins in the ovaries and spreads to the pelvis and abdomen most of the times before getting detected. The reason for such late diagnosis is because early stage ovarian cancer rarely gets detected due to absence of symptoms. Advanced-stage cancer too causes symptoms such as weight loss, pain in the pelvis, bowel change, abdominal bloating and urge to urinate frequently which are often mistaken for other common conditions. While diagnosing the cancer at an earlier stage helps in treating it speedily, the symptoms make the process tougher. Also, though the exact cause remains a mystery family history of ovarian or breast cancer and overweight issues increase the risk. Learn how genes has an impact on breast cancer risk from www.firsteatright.com. If you have a family history it is better to discuss it with your doctor who might refer you to a genetic counsellor to test for genetic mutations that could increase the risk of ovarian and breast cancer. But now, researchers strongly believe that microorganisms living inside our body may have a prominent role to play.

Vaginal Bacteria
Personal hygiene is extremely important and each of us must take utmost care to ensure that our body is well cared for. One species of bacteria in the vagina called as the lactobacillus is assumed to be beneficial to the body as researchers feel that these bacteria helps in protecting against unhelpful or bad microbes from occupying a safe place in the vagina and causing harm.

The study published in The Lancet journal had vaginal and cervical samples taken from 176 women who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, 109 women who belonged to the high-risk category due to the presence of the BRCA1 mutation and 295 women who did not belong to the high-risk category. Results showed that:

1. Young women with a mutant BRCA1 mutation had three times less lactobacilli in the vagina comparatively
2. 1/3rd of women under the age of 30 with BRCA1 mutation had low numbers of lactobacilli while those without the mutation did not lack enough of the good bacteria
3. Women with ovarian cancer risk were found significantly lacking in the number of lactobacilli. The risk of developing ovarian cancer was 40 times higher due to the inheritance of the BRCA1 gene mutation
   
   

Hence, lactobacilli levels are extremely low in women younger than 50 with ovarian cancer risk. The presence of the good bacteria acts as a shield against infections preventing the infection to moving up to the ovaries and causing ovarian cancer risk. So, having enough number of this good bacteria is essential to reduce the risk of the disease. Further research might help understanding whether introducing new lactobacilli into the vagina would do the trick and save women from cancer risk. Though this study sheds light on one of the most important health aspects, the study is in the initial stages and we are pretty unsure whether it is solely lactobacilli that determines ovarian cancer risk or there are other factors that do play a role too. We need further studies, large-scale ones, to support this finding. Only then ways to change the bacteria in the vagina to enable health promotion could be thought about.