The team, led by Campaign grant holder Dr Angela Cox in collaboration with a large international consortium of research groups, has identified a common gene associated with breast cancer, Caspase 8.

Everyone has the Caspase 8 gene, but different people have different variants. Around 25 per cent of Europeans carry a variant of Caspase 8 which reduces their risk of breast cancer by about 10 per cent. In the UK the average lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is one in nine and the study found that women with the Caspase 8 variant have a lower risk of developing the disease, reducing their risk to around one in ten.

The discovery of this variant will not have direct implications for women with breast cancer now but it will help scientists further understand the role of Caspase 8 and the genetic pathways involved in breast cancer. It is hoped the research will also help scientists design cancer treatments targeted at these pathways.

Presenting the prize at the award ceremony at the House of Lords Wednesday April 30, Professor Alastair Thompson, Chair of Campaign's Scientific Advisory Board, said:

"Campaign's Research Team of the Year Award, now in its sixth year, is given to the team whose work has made valuable advances in breast cancer research during the past year. The breadth and range of exceptional breast cancer research supported by the charity makes it more difficult to choose a winner each year."

He added: "This study will pave the way for further collaborations so that more of these variants can be identified, leading to a much clearer picture of the genetic pathways involved in breast cancer."

Dr Angela Cox said:

"We are delighted to have won the Breast Cancer Campaign Research Team of the Year award which is a result of a large international collaboration by the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. The research conducted at Sheffield is helping improve our understanding of the genetics of breast cancer which may lead us towards better treatments in the future."

Research around the world over the last five to ten years has been largely unsuccessful in identifying common breast cancer gene variants until recently. Identification of this type of variant requires very large studies that can only be achieved by collaboration, both between research centres internationally and between scientists and doctors.