Prostate Cancer Stages In Simple Non-Medical Terms

By Donald Saunders
www.prostatecancerexplained.com

Having been diagnosed with prostate cancer it's vital that the stage and growth rate of the cancer is established, so that a treatment option can be chosen which will give you the greatest benefit. This means determining the spread of cancer, if any, away from the prostate gland itself and the manner in which the cancer is growing.

In many ways prostate cancer cells are just like any other cells of the body and will go through various stages of growth and there are a number of tests which can be performed, and grading systems which can be used, to determine and classify the stage of growth of prostate cancer cells.

One of the most widely used grading systems is known as the Gleason system. Here cancer cells are compared to normal cells and given a grading to indicated their appearance in comparison to normal cells. The grading scale runs from 1 to 5, with 1 representing a cell which is quite similar to a normal cell and 5 indicating a cell which bears little resemblance to a normal cell.

One problem with this method is that cells in different areas of the prostate may be at different stages of development. In order to obtain an overall Gleason score therefore the scores are taken from the two areas which are most affected by cancer and the scores are then added together to produce an overall score which will lie between 2 and 10, with a score of 10 indicating a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer.

To determine the extent to which cancer has spread a commonly used system is the TNM system, which uses a combination of the size of the tumor, the extent to which the lymph nodes have been affected and the presence of other metastases (related cancers appearing in sites other than the prostate gland). Prostate cancer is then classified as being T1, T2, T3 or T4 cancer.

T1 and T2 indicate a cancer which is confined to the prostate gland and T3 and T4 designate a cancer which has spread beyond the prostate gland. When T3 and T4 cancer is present further tests will be carried out to determine the extent of spread outside of the prostate gland.

Prostate cancer is unique to each individual and, while some cancers are quite slow growing, others are extremely aggressive and can spread very rapidly. In many cases unfortunately prostate cancer is not diagnosed until the cancer is quite well advanced and has often spread beyond the prostate gland. However, as awareness of the problem posed by prostate cancer is increasing and, with it, the chances of survival following diagnosis is also increasing.

A Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Can Save Your Life

By Abbie Frank
www.prostate-cancer-treatment-expert.com

If you experience certain symptoms like frequent night urination, blood in your urine or semen, pains in your lower back, in your pelvis or in your upper thighs all this could be symptoms of prostatitis, a non cancerous swelling of the prostate gland or it could be prostate cancer.

Now there's no need to panic but the fact is that many who choose to ignore signs and symptoms condemn themselves to living with the uncertainty. This has to be worse than actually being diagnosed and knowing if you have prostate cancer or not.

For those who want to continue living, you need to undergo a prostate cancer diagnosis to determine if indeed you have prostate cancer and what can be done to cure it and save your life. There are several stages to prostate cancer and the farther along you let it go without treatment, the more at risk you are of dying due to cancer.

When you discover the symptoms you shouldn't just throw in the towel but try to see what you need to do about it. First, check with your doctor to conduct screening tests of prostate cancer for you. If you've followed previous advice, you no doubt have a baseline PSA test and previous physical tests to begin your diagnosis.

Yet another digital rectal examination (DRE) to check for size and texture of your prostate through the rectal lining but you should know the drill by now. Now's also not time to get sensitive concerning the test. With this examination your doctor can tell if cancer is present in your prostate by checking to see if he can feel a nodule or other types of prostate irregularity.

Next, the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test will be done and compared with previous results. This test is used to measure the levels of a protein in the blood called prostate-specific antigen. This protein is usually overproduced by prostate cancer cells. So, if prostate cancer is present, there will be an increase of PSA levels in the blood of the victim. Be aware that this isn't completely accurate though is a good indicator.

If after these screening tests cancer is suspected, a biopsy may be performed. Here, a biopsy is used to gain a tissue sample from the prostate to be examined under a microscope. This biopsy tissue analysis is performed to determine the Gleason score or if the tumor is cancerous or not.

At this point, you and your doctor have a good idea IF you have cancer and at what stage it has developed. It's at this point that a strategy for beating prostate cancer is development and options are discussed.

Be aware that in the great majority of cases, the symptoms are caused by prostatitis and are not cancerous. The point however is why anyone would want to stay in denial and think they have cancer instead of going in and getting an accurate diagnosis of the situation. Besides, there are mediations now available to treat prostatitis and help alleviate many of the most common symptomatic complaints