MEN most likely to have their lives cut short by prostate cancer could be identified by testing for three genes, it was claimed yesterday.
Different combinations of defective and normal versions of the genes indicate the chances of patients surviving 11 years after diagnosis. A genetic screening test based on the findings could help doctors earmark certain men for aggressive early treatment that may not be needed by other patients with a better prognosis.
Crucially, not all men with life-threatening cancers had classically aggressive tumours as defined by a measurement called a Gleason score.
Scientists studied the genes in tissue samples taken from 308 patients.
Those in whom all three genes were normal had the best prognosis.
