Mycoplasma: The micron sized carcinogenic protozoan
The Mycoplasma genus has over a hundred species also known as Mollicutes whose diameter barely crosses 0.5 micrometers. Most of these species are parasites that thrive in plant and animal hosts and are present on almost all surfaces that you and everyone you know is exposed to on a daily basis. Known mostly for its pathogenicity as a pneumonia causing bacteria that usually occurred in children, these bacteria have a unique character that makes them especially resistant to broad spectrum antibiotics like penicillin. They lack a true cell wall and some species can thrive in oxygen absent atmospheres. The reason to why they are given an advantage against some antibiotics is because antibiotics works on the principle of attacking the process of synthesis of the glucosamine sugars that make up the cell wall. In addition to pneumonia, Mycoplasma have also been known to cause reproductive tract infections in addition to cancer. These RTI’s are found, statistically, more in women than in men and manifest themselves in the form of pelvic inflammation and other moderate to serious symptoms.
Their cancer-causing property is a relatively new concept and is thus highly under researched. The usual culprits of the mycoplasma genus that do cause cancer is M. fermentans, M. penetrens and M.hyorhinis, of which the only existing research that has been carried out employed the use of the fermentans and penetrens.
On infection, these bacteria, can cause chromatic aberrations that result in changes to the genetic morphology. Infected cells get altered into abnormal spindle shaped cells and their DNA morphs into a more tightly coiled and transcriptionally inactive form called heterochromatin. This remodeling can lead to cells becoming malignant and thus causing cancer in an unsuspecting victim.
Mycoplasma are responsible for infecting the colon, lungs, stomach, prostrate and renal system with malignant cancer. It is also linked to cancer in the mammary gland as it can form an association with the growth factors present on the cell membranes of cells, thus interfering with normal cell division. The interesting aspect of this carcinogen is that they do not infect cells the usual way i.e. ligating their DNA with the host DNA, in fact the actual mechanism of infection is still a mystery to scientists though there are some theories that have been formulated.
On the bright side, (yes there is a bright side to this) this cancer is reversible, if the patient is administered with a steady dose of antibacterial drugs like Giproflaxin and Clarithromycin until a particular stage. The general consensus is that, one can be cancer free if one treated before the 11th week of infection and the odds might still be in one’s favor even after that, though it might decrease.
Although these bacteria may not pose a great health risk to us in terms of a carcinogen as compared to other physical and chemical carcinogens, research into its infection and subsequent cure will help clear a lot of the fog that surrounds the phenomenon of other cancer causing bacteria of the likes of Helicobacter pylori whose bacterial metabolites causes carcinogenesis in humans, which also happens to be the second deadliest cause of gastric related deaths world wide according to NCBI.