What does gleason score 7 mean

If your doctor suspects you have prostate cancer a biopsy may be used to confirm the diagnosis and gain insight its characteristics.

The two most dominant grades of cancer cells found in the biopsy are each given a score of 1 through 5. For instance, a patient may be assigned a 4 and a 3. These two numbers are then added together to determine the Gleason Score which is a range of In most cases, oncologists never assign a Gleason Score below 6. If we go back to our example, 4 and 3 would be added together for a sum of 7. This means 7 would the patient's Gleason Score.

The Gleason Score is based on the aggressiveness of the prostate cancer. The lower the number, the closer to normal the cell tissue, and slower-growing the cancer is likely to be. Anything less than 6 is not considered cancer. The higher the number, the more aggressive the cancer and the more likely it is to spread. Let's take a look at what the different scores mean:.

According to a study conducted by the University of Geneva, the Gleason score correlates very closely with the clinical behavior of the cancer cells. The prostate gland is about the size of a walnut in younger males, but it can become much larger as they age. Prostate cancer occurs when the cells in the prostate gland begin to grow quickly and out of control. Normal prostate cells grow slowly and stay within the prostate. Out of these five types, the most common is adenocarcinoma, which starts in the gland cells.

For all types of cancer, a stage rating is given during diagnosis. This means oncologists will assign a grade that explains how aggressive the cancer is. When an oncologist stages prostate cancer, the Gleason Score is the method used to give that grade. It was first developed by Donald Gleason in the s. Prostate cancer is comprised of cancerous cells with different grades in most cases.

Because of this, each patient is assigned two different grades: the first, referring to the most dominant grade of cancer cells and the second, referring to the second most common dominant grade of cancer cells found during the biopsy.

To confirm a suspicion of prostate cancer, your doctor will likely perform a prostate biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and gain insight into its characteristics. The Gleason Score ranges from and describes how much the cancer from your biopsy looks like healthy tissue lower score or abnormal tissue higher score. The two most dominant grades of cancer cells are each given a score that falls within that range.

After this, they will use the Gleason score to help explain the results to the patient. The Gleason score helps doctors determine how aggressive the cancer is and the best course of treatment for the patient. In this article, we explain the Gleason score, what the results mean, and alternative techniques for assessing prostate cancer progression.

In the s, a pathologist called Donald Gleason devised a grading system called the Gleason score. Gleason worked out that cancerous cells fall into five different patterns as they change from normal cells to tumorous cells. As a result, he determined a scale of 1—5 that represents these changes. Cells that score a 1 or 2 are low grade tumor cells. These usually look similar to healthy cells. Cells closer to a score of 5 are high grade.

By this point, they have mutated so much that they no longer look like regular cells. During a biopsy, a healthcare professional will take tissue samples from different areas of the prostate. The cancer is not always present in all parts of the prostate. For this reason, they will often collect several samples. After examining the samples under a microscope, they will identify the two areas with the most cancer cells.

They will then assign a score to each of these areas. Then, they will add these scores together to give a combined score, often referred to as the Gleason sum. It is important to note that sometimes, a doctor will use a different method for calculating the Gleason score. For example, when a biopsy sample has either a large number of high grade cancer cells or shows three different grades of mutation, they will modify the Gleason score to more accurately reflect how aggressive they deem the cancer to be.

We will explain why this is in the sections below. A higher Gleason score indicates more aggressive prostate cancer. Typically, lower scores suggest a less aggressive cancer. In most cases, scores range between 6— Doctors do not often use biopsy samples that score 1 or 2, as they are not usually the predominant areas of the cancer.

A Gleason score of 6 tends to be the lowest possible score. This means that the cancer is more likely to have a slower rate of growth.