Cancer-causing secret discovered

SCIENTISTS have uncovered one of the breast cancer-causing secrets of a gene that blights the lives of generations of related women.

The faulty gene not only causes breast cancer in up to 60% of those who inherit it, but also raises the risk of ovarian and prostate cancer.

In a finding that may have far-reaching implications for drug development, Cambridge University scientists have revealed how the so-called BRCA2 gene's interaction with other cells causes cancerous mutations.