Researchers from Aarhus University Hospital (AUH) and the University of Aarhus have developed a new genetic test that could make treatment unnecessary for up to 90 percent of prostate cancer patients.

The method, which differentiates between aggressive cancers and benign growths, is a tool that has been eagerly awaited by the medical community.

“It is a test the whole world has been waiting for,” Professor Torben Ørntoft, of the department of molecular medicine at AUH, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. “Rates of prostate cancer are rising all over the world and this will end up helping millions of men.”

According to AUH, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the West.

But despite the development of tests that have significantly increased the number of prostate cancer diagnoses, screening methods remain inaccurate and lead many men to receive unnecessary surgery. Such operations can result in incontinence and impotence, but those side-effects could be avoided with the new Danish test. As the operation gets underway, the tissue can be tested to determine whether the growth is aggressive and needs surgery.

“We haven’t had any tools before to determine how aggressive the prostate cancer is,” Ørntoft said. “We have been waiting for a test like this for many years.”

The test examines the chemical changes in the tissue sample of cancer cells. By measuring the changes, researchers can then predict how serious the illness is.

Kræftens Bekæmpelse, the Danish cancer society, which helped finance the research, said it was pleased with the results, which it said could improve prostate cancer treatment.

“The lack of good methods has meant that we have had to over-treat many men just to err on the side of caution,” chairman Frede Olesen told Jyllands-Posten.

While the test is not yet ready to be rolled out worldwide, a company specialising in preventing prostate cancer has decided to use the test on a trial basis.