A new study, published in the journal Nature, has identified eight distinct genetic "fingerprints" that together account for around 85 per cent of prostate cancers. 

Four of these fingerprints were linked to cancers that were more likely to spread, providing new insights into why some tumours become life-threatening while others remain slow growing.

This is the first major publication from the Pan Prostate Cancer Group (PPCG), a global collaboration co-founded by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the University of East Anglia.

PPCG have brought together researchers from nine countries and molecular data from more than 2,000 prostate cancers to create one of the world's most comprehensive resources for studying the disease. They aim to improve the biological understanding of prostate cancer, enabling doctors to distinguish more accurately between aggressive cancers that require treatment and those that are unlikely to cause harm.

The Nature study, led by University of Copenhagen and Rigshospitalet, analysed DNA from almost 1,000 prostate tumours and highlighted eight major genetic fingerprints linked to the development of the disease. 

Professor Joachim Weischenfeldt, Professor at the Biotech Research & Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, and lead author of the Nature study, said:

"In this study, we identified eight genetic fingerprints that explain around 85 per cent of prostate cancers. Four of these fingerprints were linked to cancers that were more likely to spread, helping us understand why some prostate cancers behave more aggressively than others. It is remarkable how much clinical significance these genetic fingerprints appear to have. They can help distinguish between patients who are developing life-threatening cancer and those who are not.”

Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:

"By bringing together expertise, technologies and patient data from around the world, the Pan Prostate Cancer Group has created a resource that will benefit the entire research community for years to come. The ability to analyse thousands of prostate cancers at this level of molecular detail would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. The resulting dataset provides an important foundation for future discoveries, helping researchers better understand how prostate cancer develops, progresses and responds to treatment.”