Grade of Prostate Cancer
The grade of prostate cancer refers to how the cancer cells look under a microscope. Finding out what grade your cancer is helps you and your doctor choose the best way to treat it.
Prostate cancer cells are either well-differentiated, moderately differentiated, or poorly differentiated. Differentiation is a term that is used to describe how different the cancer cells look from normal cells under a microscope. Well-differentiated cancers have very clear boundaries and cells that look relatively normal. They usually do not grow and spread rapidly. Poorly differentiated cancers have less clearly defined boundaries. The cancer cells look very abnormal. They often grow and spread rapidly.
John McEnroe Serves Up Prostate Cancer Information
His father's prostate cancer changed tennis legend John McEnroe, who turned 50 in February. McEnroe used to have at least one thing in common with ordinary guys: He rarely saw a doctor or gave his own health a lot of thought. That all changed five years ago, when his dad, now 74, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. "It really raised my awareness level," says the four-time U.S. Open champ. He scheduled his first prostate-specific antigen test -- a screening test for prostate cancer that's also...
Read the John McEnroe Serves Up Prostate Cancer Information article > >
After your cancer has been looked at under a microscope, your doctor can tell you what grade your cancer is.
Gleason score
Prostate cancer is often graded using the Gleason score, on a scale of 2 to 10. The Gleason score is thought to be a powerful tool for predicting how aggressive a tumor will be. The higher the Gleason score, the more likely the tumor is to grow rapidly and spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body.
- A Gleason score of 2 to 6 means well-differentiated tumors with cells that are expected to grow slowly and not spread readily.
- A Gleason score of 7 means moderately differentiated tumor cells.
- A Gleason score of 8 to 10 means poorly differentiated tumors with cells that are likely to grow rapidly and spread to other parts of the body.
Rarely, the following system is used to grade cancer:
- GX: Grade cannot be determined
- G1: Well-formed, normal cells (Gleason score 2 to 4)
- G2: Mostly normal cells (Gleason score 5 to 7)
- G3: Poorly formed cells with many traits of cancer cells (Gleason score 8 to 10)
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Today in Prostate Cancer
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
©2005-2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.