Genetic marker may identify aggressive prostate cancer sooner: researchers

Australian scientists have discovered a genetic marker they say could identify whether patients with prostate cancer are likely to develop a more aggressive form of the disease which, in most cases, is untreatable. The federal government has pledged $800,000 towards developing their research, in the hope, it will pave the way for more effective treatments.

Peter Sale has metastatic prostate cancer. Source: SBS

73-year-old Peter Sale was diagnosed with prostate cancer seven years ago. Hormonal therapy has been keeping the disease at bay.

Professor Sanchia Aranda, the head of Cancer Council Australia, explains that as prostate cancer grows more aggressive, it is likely to stop responding to traditional treatments.

Cancer of the prostate is the second-most diagnosed cancer in Australian men, with one in five at risk of developing the disease.

The survival rate is generally high - 95 per cent when the cancer is localised. 

But if it progresses to the metastatic stage - that is, if it moves outside the prostate - patients have just a 30 per cent chance of survival.

Professor Sanchia Aranda explains that during the metastatic progression, the cancer changes and develops the capacity to spread.

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