Funding research and education to beat prostate disease
Diagnosis and treatment
Once you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, your doctor will need to determine how aggressive it is and how far it has progressed.
Grading your prostate cancer
The system used to measure and grade your prostate cancer is the Gleason system. The grade measures how aggressive your cancer is by looking at the tissue samples taken during your prostate biopsy. Prostate cancers range from slow-growing tumours which are unlikely to spread and cause problems to fast-growing tumours which can spread quickly. The higher the Gleason score, the more aggressive the prostate cancer.
| Gleason score | Risk |
|---|---|
| 2-4 | Low |
| 5-7 | Medium |
| 8-10 | High |
You may have multiple tumours in your prostate, which can have different individual grades on the Gleason score. If this is the case, the two most prominent areas are graded and added together, e.g. a Gleason score of (3 + 4). The maximum Gleason score is 10.
Staging
Grading your prostate cancer lets your urologist know how aggressive your prostate cancer is. Determining the stage of your prostate cancer helps to identify how far it has spread. To determine the stage of your cancer, a number of tests may be carried out to get a picture of the prostate and the surrounding area.
These imaging techniques indicate how far, if at all, the cancer has spread.
There are three main stages in prostate cancer.
Early prostate cancer
This is where the cancer is still contained within the prostate as a primary tumour and has not spread to the surrounding tissue.
Locally advanced prostate cancer
This is when the cancer has spread outside of the prostate. The prostate cancer has not spread to more distant lymph nodes or to the bones.
Metastatic disease
As the cancer becomes more advanced, the cancer cells are able to break off from the primary tumour. These cells enter the blood or lymphatic system and are transported to distant parts of the body. Once deposited at another site – such as a bone – the cancer cells start to grow and multiply, forming secondary cancers, or metastases.
Knowing the grade and stage of your cancer helps you and your doctors decide on the most appropriate course of action.
Treatment options
The treatments available to you will depend on several factors.
- Your prostate cancer grade and stage.
- Age.
- Fitness levels.
- Personal preference.
- Medical history.
Every case of prostate cancer is dealt with on an individual basis by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals. You should have the opportunity to discuss the various treatment options with your team. It is important for you to be comfortable with the chosen treatment.
