Microbial Drivers, Infectious Complications, and Immuno-Microbial Therapies in Urologic Cancers

Urologic cancers, including prostate, bladder, upper-tract urothelial, renal, testicular, and penile malignancies, occupy a complex intersection between microbiology, immunity, and oncology. Mounting evidence points to microbial involvement both as causal agents and modulators of disease trajectory: high-risk HPV in penile and urothelial carcinoma, Schistosoma haematobium in squamous bladder carcinoma, and BK/JC polyomaviruses in renal and urothelial cancers. Additionally, emerging studies implicate the urinary, prostatic, and seminal microbiomes in prostate carcinogenesis, progression, and therapeutic response. Across diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, biopsies, transurethral resections, intravesical BCG therapy, systemic chemotherapy, robotic or open surgeries, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, the host–microbe interface is profoundly reshaped. The rise of multidrug-resistant uropathogens, limited mechanistic understanding of intravesical BCG action, and accelerating research on the tumour microbiome and microbial immunotherapies underscore the urgency to consolidate molecular and translational insights in this field.This Research Topic aims to integrate the molecular, microbial, and immunological dimensions of urologic oncology. It encourages studies that dissect microbial pathogenesis, host–pathogen interactions, immuno-microbial crosstalk, and translational strategies using microbial or microbiome-based interventions. Specific objectives include identifying oncogenic pathogens and their virulence determinants, elucidating how microbiota influence tumour progression and immune landscapes, advancing understanding of BCG and alternative microbial immunotherapies, mapping the epidemiology of infections during cancer care, and developing novel diagnostics or precision infection-prevention models. By fostering collaboration between microbiologists, immunologists, oncologists, and urologic surgeons, this Topic seeks to bridge fundamental infection biology with clinical intervention in urologic cancers.To gather further insights within microbial and immuno-oncologic aspects of urologic malignancy, we welcome articles that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:o Oncogenic pathogens in urologic cancers — HPV, Schistosoma haematobium, BK/JC polyomaviruses, and other viral or bacterial drivers of carcinogenesiso Urinary, prostatic, seminal, and tumour-associated microbiomes — microbial community structure, function, and links to cancer initiation, progression, and therapy responseo Molecular bacterial pathogenesis in post-surgical or immunocompromised conditions — E.coli, Klebsiella, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Proteus, Corynebacterium, Mycoplasma/Ureaplasmao Mechanisms of intravesical BCG therapy and next-generation microbial immunotherapieso Infectious complications across the urologic cancer trajectory — biopsy-related sepsis, catheter-associated infections, urinary diversion microbiota, and antimicrobial resistanceo Host immune responses and immune evasion at urogenital mucosal surfaces, and microbiome influences on immunotherapy efficacyo Vaccines and immunoprophylaxis — HPV vaccination, UPEC and BK virus vaccine candidates, microbial and cancer immunotherapy combinationso Novel molecular diagnostics, biomarkers, and metagenomic tools for pathogen identification and host response profilingo Long-term microbiome shifts, infection-related sequelae, and microbiota-modulating interventions in survivorshipo The Microbiome as a Predictive Biomarker – Prediction of response to immunotherapy, biomarkers of treatment-related toxicity, and prognostic microbial signatures. Topic editors: Matin Sheriff, Stergios Boussios Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85867/microbial-drivers-infectious-complications-and-immuno-microbial-therapies-in-urologic-cancers