DNA prostate test 'will predict deadliest cancer risk'

DNA testing can predict which men face the highest risk of deadly prostate cancer, scientists say.

The team at the Institute of Cancer Research, in London, say men could soon be offered genetic screening in a similar way to breast cancer in women.

They have shown 14 separate mutations can greatly increase the odds of aggressive prostate cancers, which could form the basis of a test.

Prostate Cancer UK said such testing could "revolutionise" care for men.

Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men in many countries, including the UK - where more than 40,000 people are diagnosed each year.

But not every patient has, or needs, invasive therapy that results in severe side-effects.  Identifying which men will need treatment - those who are likely to develop the most aggressive and deadly form of the cancer - is a huge challenge.

The researchers took blood samples from 191 men with prostate cancer and at least three close family members with the same condition.Each was tested for risky mutations - this included the BRCA genes that are involved in repairing DNA and already linked to breast and ovarian cancers.The results, published in the British Journal of Cancer, show that 7% of the men had one of 14 high-risk mutations.The researchers said that it was also these men who had the aggressive prostate cancer that had started to spread around the body.View more information here