A faulty gene normally associated with breast cancer can lead to aggressive and deadly prostate cancer in men, research has shown.

Prostate cancer spreads more quickly and is more likely to be fatal in men with a defective BRCA2 gene, a study found.

The researchers argue that men with the gene who are diagnosed with the disease should be given more radical treatment than non-carriers.

They need immediate surgery or radiotherapy, it is claimed.

Currently many men with early-stage prostate cancer are advised to wait and see if the disease starts to progress.

This “active surveillance” approach suits men with slow-growing, non aggressive tumours, but not those with the BRCA2 mutant, say the scientists.

The new study, published in the Journal of the Clinical Oncology, involved analysing the medical records of 61 BRCA2 mutation carriers, 18 carriers of a sister faulty gene, BRCA1, and 1,940 non-carriers.

Men with either of the defective genes were more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage prostate cancers, or tumours that had already spread.

Those with BRCA2 mutations were also significantly less likely to survive. They lived an average of 6.5 years after diagnosis compared with 12.9 years for non-carriers.

Study co-leader Ros Eeles, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said: “It is clear from our study that prostate cancers linked to inheritance of the BRCA2 cancer gene are more deadly than other types.

“It must make sense to start offering affected men immediate surgery or radiotherapy, even for early-stage cases that would otherwise be classified as low-risk. We won’t be able to tell for certain that earlier treatment can benefit men with inherited cancer genes until we’ve tested it in a clinical trial, but the hope is that our study will ultimately save lives by directing treatment at those who most need it.”