Scientists hope that a significant breakthrough in knowing how a typical form of breast cancer starts to develop can now lead to the creation of new drugs which would stop tumors from forming.

British researchers have made a ‘major advance’ in understanding the breast cancer, following which the first targeted treatment for ‘triple negative’ breast cancer, which tends to affect younger women, can be developed.

Currently the only treatment approved for ‘triple negative’ breast cancer are surgery and general chemotherapy. The rates of survival are poor with high mortality rates compared to any other forms of breast cancer.

Experts have now made significant improvement in fighting this type of breast cancer which could lead to the introduction of drugs that may stop the growth of tumors or even prevent them from developing in the first place.

Dr Matt Smalley, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer's Institute of Cancer Research in London, said, “It means we can now look very closely at where the disease forms and which genes are involved in that process. This knowledge will greatly improve the chance of finding effective new targeted treatments for breast cancer patients in the future.”