die of the disease as white men. In Britain, one in four black men will develop it. But the cause is not down to lifestyle, or diet, or being embarrassed about rectal exams.
The reason lies at a microscopic level, in the very blueprint of the body.‘In the UK there is a racial disparity in prostate cancer,’ says Professor Dmitry Pshezhetskiy at the University of East Anglia. ‘Recent research shows that this staggering racial difference for prostate cancer diagnosis and mortality is due to genetic differences.’But now, genes might reprieve prostate cancer’s black victims, where previously they doomed them.
Pshezhetskiy’s team has just announced that it is developing a test to screen for prostate cancer, specifically picking up genetic markers.
This ‘fundamentally new genetic blood test’ aims to be far more accurate than the current PSA test for prostate cancer and will revolutionise survival rates.