British researchers have made a dramatic breakthrough against a lethal form of prostate cancer.
Trials of a new pill have shown that it can shrink tumours in up to 80 per cent of cases, and end the need for damaging chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Experts hailed the advance as potentially the biggest in the field of prostate cancer for decades, capable of saving many thousands of lives.
Scientists believe the technique could also be effective on other tumours, such as breast and bowel cancers.
The drug, abiraterone, was discovered by researchers at the Royal Marsden Hospital in South-West London.
Their leader, Dr Johann de Bono, said patients there had been able to control the disease with just four pills a day and very few side-effects.
Prostate cancer is Britain's most common cancer among men and the second highest killer, after lung cancer. Some 35,000 people a year are diagnosed with it - and 12,000 die.
There are two types, aggressive and non-aggressive, which are often called 'tiger' and 'pussycat'. Men with pussycat cancer can often lead a healthy life, but the tiger variety - a third of cases - is usually fatal within 18 months.
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