PSA tests and a biopsy are common ways of determining which stage the prostate cancer has entered into.  TNM Staging is another method to determine which stage the cancer has entered.

Prostate cancer

An Oncologist specializes in cancer treatment and can help determine how far along the cancer has progressed to

Stage A

This is the earliest stage of prostate cancer.  It’s typically determined by PSA tests or a biopsy.  At this point in time, a prognosis cannot be made until the doctors recognize how far the cancer has spread.

Stage B

In Stage B, it is known that the cancer has spread to various parts of the prostate.

Stage C

In Stage C, the cancer has spread throughout the prostate and may have spread to other tissues nearby the prostate.  It may also have spread to the bladder by now.

Stage D

In Stage D, the cancer has spread throughout the prostate and beyond.  It’s in the nearby tissue.  If is still concentrated to the pelvic area, the stage is referred to as D1.  If the cancer has spread to the bone, it’s referred to as D2.

Gleason Score

The Gleason Score is based on the arrangement of cancer cells in tumors under a microscope.  This is looked at by a pathologist.  The lower the score the patient has, the better.  The lowest possible Gleason Score is 2.  A typical Gleason Score is between 5 and 7 and if the score is between 7 and 10, it is considered to be rather high.

Some physicians use TNM Staging, which is a universal scoring system.  It looks at how far the cancer has spread.  To determine the TNM Staging, the Oncologist looks at the tumor size, referred to as T staging, the lymph node involvement, referred to as N staging, and the presence of cancer in other parts of the body, or its metastasis, referred to as M staging.

T Staging

This staging goes from T1 to T4 and has some sub-stages.  In the T1 stage, the cancer can’t be seen or felt.  A biopsy has confirmed the presence of cancer.  T1a means the cancer is present in 5 % or less of the prostate tissue which has been examined.  T1b means that cancer is present in more than 5 % of the prostate tissue.

T2 means that the cancer is concentrated only to the prostate.  T2a means that the cancer is only on one side of the prostate, and T2b means that the cancer is on both sides of the prostate.

T3 means that the cancer has spread beyond the prostate to nearby tissues and organs.  T3a means that the cancer is not found in the seminal glands and T3b means that it has spread to the seminal glands.  T4 tumors have spread to other organs, like the bladder or rectum.

There is N0 to N1 staging.  N0 staging means that the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes and N1 staging means that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

M staging also goes from M0 to M1.  M0 means that the cancer has not spread to distant tissues and M1 means that the cancer has been found in distant tissues.  M1a means it has been found in the lymph nodes beyond the pelvic area.  M1b means it’s been found in the bone and M1c means it’s been found in other sites.