Scientists have identified a cell that might be the real cause of prostate cancer.

Scientists had taken basal cells samples from healthy human prostate tissue and it was observed that in mice with suppressed immune systems it triggered cancer.

The disease that kills 10,000 men in the UK alone every year might be due to these cells.

It was earlier believed that luminal cells were the main cause of prostate cancer because more features resembling luminal cells were seen.

Dr Owen Witte, from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the study's senior authors, said, "But we were able to start with a basal cell and induce human prostate cancer and now this gives us a place to look in understanding the sequence of genetic events that initiates prostate cancer and defining the cell signalling pathways that may be at work fuelling the malignancy, helping us to potentially uncover new targets for therapy."

It is being thought that these findings would lead to better treatments and diagnostic tools for the deadly disease.