A drug used to treat breast and ovarian cancer can extend the lives of some men with prostate cancer and should become a new standard treatment for the disease, concludes a major trial which is set to change clinical practice.

The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has strongly welcomed the approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the genetically targeted drug olaparib for some men with advanced prostate cancer.

A drug used for breast and ovarian cancer is more effective than modern targeted hormone treatments at slowing progression and improving survival in some men with advanced prostate cancer, phase III clinical trial findings reveal.