Scientists from the North-East have welcomed research which suggests men who develop prostate cancer may be genetically vulnerable to cancer-causing agents.

Researchers from North Carolina, in the US, found that men with prostate cancer often had a different version of the gene which controls the body's response to cancer-causing agents than men who are not affected by the disease.

Prostate is the most common cancer in men, with 2,600 cases in the North of England each year, but the cause is a mystery.

The high rates of the disease found in developed countries has been linked to a western diet, particularly its high animal fat content. Other environmental factors that may be to blame are low dietary intake of selenium or exposure to radiation or a chemical called cadmium.

Dr Craig Robson, a Cancer Research UK scientist researching new treatments for prostate cancer at Newcastle University, said: "Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men in the UK but currently we know little about what causes the disease."

His team of scientists are studying how prostate cancers become resistant to treatment.

This should bring about a new breed of potent anti-cancer drugs.

"It's important to find out how genetic and environmental factors combine to cause prostate cancer as, in the future, this will allow us to identify people at high-risk and advise them on ways to prevent the disease," Dr Robson said.