For people whose genes make them more likely to get cancer, a breakthrough new drug developed in Britain could be life-saving.
Cancer sufferer Julian Lewis responds well to a trial drug treating his condition
Julian Lewis is a victim of his own DNA. The father of three from Oxford carries a genetic fault known as a BRCA mutation.
The same mutation killed his sister Ruth. She died of ovarian cancer before she was 60, then, four years ago, Julian discovered he had prostate cancer.
"I had blood in my urine and that lead to a series of tests which diagnosed cancer, and those also revealed that it had already spread to my bones," said Julian.
"That meant that I wasn't a suitable candidate for surgery or radiotherapy."
When Julian's body became resistant to traditional drugs, the prognosis was grim.
But now Julian and thousands of others in Britain with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations have been given hope by a new, space age drug.
This is really the holy grail of cancer treatment - selectively killing cancer cells and sparing normal cells.
Developed by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in collaboration with The Royal Marsden Hospital and AstraZeneca, Olaparib is still being trialled but initial results have scientists excited.
Julian was one of the first patients to be involved in the clinical trial, and after two years his cancer is now shrinking.
The BRCA mutation weakens the ability of a person's cells to repair themselves.
For men the lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer doubles from 7% to more than 15%.
For women it is even worse. Their risk of developing ovarian cancer jumps from 2% to 60%, while their chance of getting breast cancer leaps from 10%, to as much as 85%.
But with Olaparib, scientists in Britain have found a way of exploiting a fault inherent in BRCA mutation cancer cells to destroy them.
"By giving this drug we have made what has been an advantage to the cell in fact an achilles heel," said Dr Johann de Bono, of the ICR.
"This is really the holy grail of cancer treatment - selectively killing cancer cells and sparing normal cells."
Traditional cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, kill both healthy and cancerous cells.
They destroy more of the cancer cells because they grow faster, but produce terrible side effects like hair loss, nausea and fatigue.
In contrast, Olaparib leaves healthy cells untouched. It is highly potent with only mild side effects.
In the first clinical trial nearly two thirds of patients with the BRCA mutation responded to the drug.
Cancer sufferer Julian Lewis responds well to a trial drug treating his condition
Julian Lewis is a victim of his own DNA. The father of three from Oxford carries a genetic fault known as a BRCA mutation.
The same mutation killed his sister Ruth. She died of ovarian cancer before she was 60, then, four years ago, Julian discovered he had prostate cancer.
"I had blood in my urine and that lead to a series of tests which diagnosed cancer, and those also revealed that it had already spread to my bones," said Julian.
"That meant that I wasn't a suitable candidate for surgery or radiotherapy."
When Julian's body became resistant to traditional drugs, the prognosis was grim.
But now Julian and thousands of others in Britain with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations have been given hope by a new, space age drug.
This is really the holy grail of cancer treatment - selectively killing cancer cells and sparing normal cells.
Developed by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in collaboration with The Royal Marsden Hospital and AstraZeneca, Olaparib is still being trialled but initial results have scientists excited.
Julian was one of the first patients to be involved in the clinical trial, and after two years his cancer is now shrinking.
The BRCA mutation weakens the ability of a person's cells to repair themselves.
For men the lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer doubles from 7% to more than 15%.
For women it is even worse. Their risk of developing ovarian cancer jumps from 2% to 60%, while their chance of getting breast cancer leaps from 10%, to as much as 85%.
But with Olaparib, scientists in Britain have found a way of exploiting a fault inherent in BRCA mutation cancer cells to destroy them.
"By giving this drug we have made what has been an advantage to the cell in fact an achilles heel," said Dr Johann de Bono, of the ICR.
"This is really the holy grail of cancer treatment - selectively killing cancer cells and sparing normal cells."
Traditional cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, kill both healthy and cancerous cells.
They destroy more of the cancer cells because they grow faster, but produce terrible side effects like hair loss, nausea and fatigue.
In contrast, Olaparib leaves healthy cells untouched. It is highly potent with only mild side effects.
In the first clinical trial nearly two thirds of patients with the BRCA mutation responded to the drug.
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