Gleason 9 - Question on Stage

pooks4534 · New User Joined: 16 Nov 2007 Posts: 1

My husband was diag. with an orginal PSA of 31 and a Gleason grade 9 in 2005. He was told he is considered T1C. He was told that surgery was not an option for him because of the high PSA and high Gleason. His choice for treatment was radiation and Viadur implant. I have read that you need to know what stage your cancer is and that this is very important. My question is since he did not have surgery - does anyone have any idea what stage his cancer would be considered or can a stage only be determined with surgery?

johnw100 · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject: Re: Gleason 9 - Question on Stage

T1c is a tumor which can not be felt by DRE.
T2 stages are tumors flet by DRE: other stages indicate cancers in other sites and bone, which can sometimes be detected with MRI and bone scans.

Depending on the equipment used, the tests do not always give the clear cut result often published, and PC does not usually show up in bone scans unless there's PSA of at least 20.
The diagnostic Center of disease Sarasota claim good results with their testing equipment.

It's worth reading Dr Myers book on Hormone Treatment: it contains a wealth of information and details on hormone testing while on treatment.

brainman · Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject: Re: Gleason 9 - Question on Stage

Hi pooks4534,

I am very sorry about your husband's cancer. Just to clarify something: the T1C is the stage and the Gleason Score is the grade. The "stage" of a cancer is a measure of how big it is and if it has metastasized any. The grade is a measure of how aggressive the cancer cells are. A Gleason Score is made up of two parts sometimes expressed as an equation. For example: 5+4=9. These numbers are based on a microscopic examination of the cancer cells. Cancer cells are not always identical in terms of agresiveness. The first number (5 in my example) is a measure of the most aggressive cancer cells and the second number (4 in my example) is a measure of the second most aggressive cells. Your husband has a Gleason Score of 9, but what are the two numbers. A 5+4=9 is significantly different in terms of prognosis than a 4+5=9. It seems like he has a low stage but very high grade cancer. He needs to opt for aggressive treatment.
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