Prostate Cancer: New Gene Test Could Revolutionze Treatment

(CBS/AP) To treat or not to treat? When it comes to prostate cancer, that's a difficult question, as currently there's no reliable way to know which tumors are life-threatening.

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But now scientists have created a test that might make it possible to identify dangerous tumors with more accuracy than is now possible.

In a new study, they report boosting the accuracy of testing to 91 percent from 84 percent. The test tracks the activity of four genes within prostate tumors.

Dr. Charles Sawyers, a cancer expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, told the Wall Street Journal that if a test based on the research were to become widely available, "it would have a huge impact."

Prostate is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among American men, killing more than 30,000 a year.

The study was published online Wednesday in the journal "Nature."