Prostate cancer test set to transform treatment

Men with prostate cancer could soon be given a cheap and easy test to reveal whether their disease is likely to be life-threatening or not.Doctors are developing the test after discovering that men with an aggressive form of prostate cancer carry elevated levels of a particular molecule in their urine.The test, which is expected to be available within three to five years, could transform prostate cancer treatment by identifying men with the most dangerous form of the disease early on.The discovery might lead to a new generation of anti-cancer drugs that prevent tumour cells from spreading to other parts of the body through a process called metastasis.Existing screening programmes for the disease rely on a test that measures levels of a protein called prostate specific antigen (PSA) in a blood sample. Men who have a high reading are sent for additional tests and will often have to undergo a biopsy,...

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