The scientists' findings have major implications for the treatment of prostate cancer. Photograph: Getty Images/Visuals Unlimited
Scientists have hailed the "single biggest leap forward" in their understanding of the genetic causes of prostate cancer, from a huge study involving more than 1,000 scientists.
The research has also brought significant advances in unravelling the genetics of breast and ovarian cancers. This is how the Guardian's science correspondent Ian Sample described the research:
The study, the largest ever to look for faulty DNA that drives the cancers, revealed scores of genetic markers that can identify people most likely to develop the diseases at some point in their lives.
Doctors said a simple ?5 spit-test based on the markers could provide patients with a personalised "risk profile" for the diseases and pave the way for individually tailored screening, with those most at risk having more regular health checks.
The findings have major implications for the treatment of prostate cancer. A test based on genetic markers for the disease could identify men whose lifetime risk was a staggering 50%, nearly five times the national average.
Ros Eeles, professor of cancer genetics at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, described the results as "the single biggest leap forward" in understanding the genetics of the disease.
A screening service could be offered within five years, and would transform medical treatment for the most common cancer among British men. More than 40,000 men a year are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Britain, and almost 11,000 die from the disease.
We have invited Prof Douglas Easton, director of the Cancer Research UK Genetic Epidemiology Group at the University of Cambridge, who worked on the studies, to answer your questions about their significance and the implications for future genetic tests for the diseases and potential treatments. He will be answering your questions live online on Thursday between 1pm and 3pm GMT (9am and 11am EST). Please post your comments in the thread below.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2013/mar/27/prostate-cancer-breakthrough-douglas-easton
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