Drinking Water Microbiota, Entero-Mammary Pathways, and Breast Cancer: Focus on Nontuberculous Mycobacteria

Abstract

The prospect of drinking water serving as a conduit for gut bacteria, artificially selected by disinfection strategies and a lack of monitoring at the point of use, is concerning. Certain opportunistic pathogens, notably some nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), often exceed coliform bacteria levels in drinking water, posing safety risks. NTM and other microbiota resist chlorination and thrive in plumbing systems. When inhaled, opportunistic NTM can infect the lungs of immunocompromised or chronically ill patients and the elderly, primarily postmenopausal women. When ingested with drinking water, NTM often survive stomach acidity, reach the intestines, and migrate to other organs using immune cells as vehicles, potentially colonizing tumor tissue, including in breast cancer. The link between the microbiome and cancer is not new, yet the recognition of intratumoral microbiomes is a recent development. Breast cancer risk rises with age, and NTM infections have emerged as a concern among breast cancer patients. In addition to studies hinting at a potential association between chronic NTM infections and lung cancer, NTM have also been detected in breast tumors at levels higher than normal adjacent tissue. Evaluating the risks of continued ingestion of contaminated drinking water is paramount, especially given the ability of various bacteria to migrate from the gut to breast tissue via entero-mammary pathways. This underscores a pressing need to revise water safety monitoring guidelines and delve into hormonal factors, including addressing the disproportionate impact of NTM infections and breast cancer on women and examining the potential health risks posed by the cryptic and unchecked microbiota from drinking water.