Prostate cancer is a disease in which cancer develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Cancer occurs when cells of the prostate mutate and begin to multipl...
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Gleason Level
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My grandpa was recently diagnosed with Prostate cancer. They found it out of chance because his PSA level was only 3.7 not showing any abnormalities and no symptoms. He had a biopsy taken and his Gleason level is at an 8 on a scale of 1-10. I don't really know alot about it, and so I've just been researching online and I found this site. If anyone can help me understand please write back. Thank!
Posted on 07/11/07, 10:07 pm |
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KMN225,
A Gleason score of 1-6 indicates an early cancer, confined to the prostate. A 7 is perhaps also an early cancer. I'm not sure, but I believe an 8 indicates the possibility of cancer cells leaving the prostate. Your grandpa's doctor should advise him about treatment soon. Good luck Taelon 
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Please have your grandpa see his urologist as soon as possible to pick his best treatment. Also join a support group that you can both visit. The American Cancer Society can help locate one of those.
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The Gleason score has 2 parts to it, which are added together to get to the 8. I believe that the second score indicates the aggressiveness of the cancer. An 8 is not necessarily that bad yet, and they will not know if the cancer has left the prostate until they can biopsy the "margins" around the prostate (the lymph nodes). Your grandpa should see several doctors for an opinion, including urologic surgeons and radiation oncologists. The alternatives would be surgery (either traditional prostatectomy or robotic surgery...I just had it), radiation (beads or direct ray), freezing (probably not a good solution for eliminating it), hormones (which only slow it down), or do nothing (depends how old your grandpa is). Prostate cancer is usually pretty slow, so that is why do nothing is a potential alternative. Hope that helps.
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A Gleason score usually means the aggressiveness of the cancer. For example, mine was 6 when I was diagnosed at 48. Anything around that number means the cancer is "moderately aggressive."
I write about my experiences on my own prostate cancer blog, http://www.nubella.com/content/blo... When I was diagnosed, I went to legitimate health-care Web sites -- the ones that end in .org, .edu and .gov -- to get accurate information about what I faced. I also went to the bookstore and bought Dr. Patrick Walsh's book on prostate cancer. He is a well-known prostate-cancer surgeon at Johns Hopkins University. Your granddaddy has plenty of decisions to make -- chief among them what kind of treatment to pick. His urologist will only RECOMMEND a treatment, but it's up to your grandpa to decide. Keep me posted.
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