Microbiota of Human Breast Tissue
Open accessAbstract
In recent years, a greater appreciation for the microbes inhabiting human body sites has emerged. In the female mammary gland, milk has been shown to contain bacterial species, ostensibly reaching the ducts from the skin. We decided to investigate whether there is a microbiome within the mammary tissue. Using 16S rRNA sequencing and culture, we analyzed breast tissue from 81 women with and without cancer in Canada and Ireland. A diverse population of bacteria was detected within tissue collected from sites all around the breast in women aged 18 to 90, not all of whom had a history of lactation. The principal phylum was Proteobacteria. The most abundant taxa in the Canadian samples were Bacillus (11.4%), Acinetobacter (10.0%), Enterobacteriaceae (8.3%), Pseudomonas (6.5%), Staphylococcus (6.5%), Propionibacterium (5.8%), Comamonadaceae (5.7%), Gammaproteobacteria (5.0%), and Prevotella (5.0%). In the Irish samples the most abundant taxa were Enterobacteriaceae (30.8%), Staphylococcus (12.7%), Listeria welshimeri (12.1%), Propionibacterium (10.1%), and Pseudomonas (5.3%). None of the subjects had signs or symptoms of infection, but the presence of viable bacteria was confirmed in some samples by culture. The extent to which these organisms play a role in health or disease remains to be determined.
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Cultivable bacteria have been demonstrated by other studies in breast, lung, prostate, pancreatic, and colon cancers.
“However, other studies have indeed shown cultivable bacteria in breast (127–129), lung (18), prostate (130, 131), pancreas (14, 15), and colon cancers (19, 132)”
From The microbiome and human cancer (2021) · cites this paper as [127]
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- Authors
- Urbaniak, C., Cummins, J., Brackstone, M., Macklaim, J. M., Gloor, G. B., Baban, C. K., Scott, L., O'Hanlon, D. M., Burton, J. P., Francis, K. P., Tangney, M., & Reid, G.
- Affiliations
- Western University (CA)
- University College Cork (IE)
- London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario, Canada
- Cork University Hospital (IE)
- Lawson Health Research Institute (CA)
- PerkinElmer (United States) (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 2014-05-15
- Volume
- 80
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 3007-3014
- ISSN
- 0099-2240 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-5336
- PMC
- PMC4018903
- OpenAlex
- W2016488959
- Cited by
- 552
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 88 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 5
- FWCI
- 9.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- London Health Sciences Centre
- University College Cork
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Keywords
- mammary gland, breast tissue, breast cancer, bacterial diversity, Proteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus, Propionibacterium, Listeria welshimeri, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Prevotella, Comamonadaceae, lactation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Bacteria, Breast, Canada, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Biodiversity, Young Adult, Microbiota
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