Prostate Cancer Staging System Updated

Prostate cancer staging is an integral part of treatment. There is no other way around it. Until your cancer care team recognize how established your tumor is, they can not effectively create a treatment plan that will best handle your needs. Staging is the step where they classify how developed the tumor is. Prostate cancer survival rates are likewise determined by the staging process. Obviously, this is not something you want to overlook when you are considering your prostate cancer treatment plan. That is why it is the very first thing your doctor will do when you have a verified diagnosis.

The primary staging system utilized by most prostate cancer specialists within Saint Louis including the ones at Metropolitan Urological Specialists is produced due to the American Joint Committee on Cancer. Their system is called the TNM system because it is derived from the 3 primary factors of the extent of the tumor (T), whether the cancer is in the lymph nodes (N), and whether the cancer has metastasized (spread) to various other parts of your body (M). In addition to that, the TNM system also takes into consideration PSA level. PSA is one of the very first warning signs of prostate cancer. PSA stands for "prostate-specific antigen." The higher your PSA level, the more likely you are to have cultivated advanced prostate cancer. A last element considered by the TMN system is your Gleason score, which is a measure of just how likely your cancer is to spread. The greater your Gleason score is, the more at risk you are. Whenever each one of these factors are combined together, you arrive at your prostate cancer stage under the TNM system. The greater your number is, the more advanced your prostate cancer is.

Regardless of whether you have checked out the various prostate cancer stages before, now is a great time to review. The doctors at the American Joint Committee on Cancer not long ago released an adjusted system for optimum clarity and accuracy. Although there are several sub-classifications to the different stages, let's emphasize the major staging groups as we think about this question of prostate cancer staging within Saint Louis, Missouri.

With Stage I, your doctor may or may not have had the ability to feel the tumor with a digital rectal examination. If not via the rectal examination, your doctor will have found the tumor although elevated PSA levels or by taking out your prostate. At this level, the tumor is at its earliest development and is going to not have reached the lymph nodes or additional organs. If you can have your cancer detected at Stage I, your prostate cancer survival rates are the highest, which is the reason that you ought to submit to yearly prostate cancer screenings.

With Stage II, your doctor still may or may not have the capacity to feel the tumor through a digital rectal exam. If the tumor may be felt, it will be noticeably physically larger than a Stage I tumor, but that will not considerably impact you insofar as you will not have the tumor spread to the lymph nodes or other organs. If the tumor can not be felt by a rectal exam, it may still be classified as a Stage II tumor if the PSA level is higher than reasonable levels for Stage I. Stage II is broken into 3 sub-categories, which are calculated by just how high your Gleason score is and therefore how likely the cancer is to spread out further.

With Stage III, the cancerous cells will not have expanded outside the prostate, but it very well may have spread within the prostate to a sizable extent. It will not have spread to the lymph nodes, but it might have spread out within the prostate to the seminal vesicles. Within this stage, your PSA level and Gleason rating will be quite high.

With Stage IV, the cancer has started to relocate outside of the prostate. Once again, this one can be broken into a pair of different sub-categories. In Stage IVA, the tumor has spread to the lymph nodes but no farther. Within Stage IVB, the tumor has dispersed beyond the lymph nodes into the bones or other body organs. Once again, the PSA level and Gleason score will be very high in this group.

This is only just a really quick overview of a very complicated system with numerous ramifications for your health and your recovery plan. If you wish to get this all further explained, the very best thing you can do is to visit a skilled team of cancer care professionals in Saint Louis. Serving the folks of Creve Coeur, Florissant, Kirkwood, Crestwood, Chesterfield, and Washington, Missouri, you can count on Metropolitan Urological Specialists. They have the experience you need to develop a prostate cancer treatment plan to maximize your cancer survival rates.