Scientists, who study breast cancer, are also found three genes associated with the most common form of the disease.

Genes may lead to new ways to diagnose and treat breast cancer hormone, also known as estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, which is responsible for 4 of 5 cases or the 36 000 women per year affected only in the UK.

The scientists of London Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), said that this discovery in the future be helpful for female patients whose body does not respond to drugs such as tamoxifen.

They have located the gene, called C6ORF96, C6ORF97 and C6ORF211, in a well-studied part of the human genome, next to the estrogen receptor gene, which is the main driver of the hormonal breast cancer.

Most drugs attack the estrogen receptor. How have discovered genes linked to these receptors, but separated from them, can be used in place of certain drug-resistant tumor.

The most marked gene is C6ORF211, which was found to stimulate tumor growth. The presence C6ORF97 determine whether patients respond to tamoxifen, a drug that affects the activity of estrogen. It is not yet determined exactly for what C6ORF96 is responsible.

This research is important because it showed that while the main driver of estrogen receptor hormonal breast cancer, right next to it there are genes that may prevent the spread of the disease.