This series of animations investigates the use of PARP inhibitors for prostate cancer treatment and has been developed by Prof Phillip Cornford in association with ecancer.

'Part 3: How to Test' evaluates four different methods of cell/tissue examination that can be used to advise what treatments are suitable.

Fresh metastatic tumour biopsy is considered the best option if possible, but it can be difficult to obtain samples of sufficient quality. Therefore, another option is to use circulating tumour cell DNA analysis.

Failing these, conducting an archival biopsy could be an option for the collection a sample. If there are difficulties obtaining a tumour biopsy sample then germline testing using blood or saliva samples should be performed.

To learn about when to test for prostate cancer click here.

To learn about who to test for prostate cancer click here.

To learn about metastatic prostate cancer and HRR defects click here.

To learn about BRCA 1-2 mutations and prostate cancer click here.

To watch an expert panel discussion on the role of testing in prostate cancer treatment click here.

To watch a discussion on the latest on PARPi and other treatments for mCRPC click here here.

This programme has been supported by an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca.