Irving, Texas – After a prostate cancer diagnosis, doctors may require additional information to proceed with the recommended treatment options. One way that doctors determine the aggressiveness of this disease is by assigning it to a risk group. Such groups indicate the likelihood of the cancer spreading and the rate at which this might happen. Risk groups help to determine the type of treatment or combination of therapies that are appropriate for every patient's case.

“Treatment options for prostate cancer are clearer for the patient when their risk group is understood,” explained Dr. Echt. “Your personal wishes and previous medical history have great influence on your treatment options more than the grade or stage of your cancer.”

Here are factors that help to determine a patient’s prostate cancer risk group:

• Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test results – The PSA blood test is used to screen prostate cancer in men with zero symptoms of the disease. The test provides in-depth information about the prostate health. Presence of prostate cancer makes the cells within the prostate gland to produce more prostate-specific antigen which is measured in blood samples. PSA test is the initial test done to men with symptoms suspicious of prostate cancer. PSA levels remain under 4 nanograms per millilitre in men without prostate cancer. As the levels of PSA rise, the chances of having prostate cancer rise too. PSA test is part of staging to determine your prostate cancer progression status. It is also used to monitor prostate cancer during and after your treatment.

• Prostate cancer stage – Staging prostate cancer involves analyzing one or multiple tests. It is a rating system with four stages that describe the progression of the disease. They describe the cancer confined within the prostate, the growth that has extended to tissues outside the prostate to local organs or progressed to other parts of the body. Different tests can be used alone or in combination to check the progression of the cancer. Staging tests include PSA blood tests, DRE, ultrasounds, bone scan, biopsy, CT scan, PET and MRI scans. The clinical stage is based on all the information about your prostate cancer available before treatment.

• The Gleason Score –A cancer is graded based on how abnormal it looks under a microscope. High-grade cancers are likely to be aggressive, and they metastasize. The Gleason score is obtained after the biopsy of prostate tissues. The Gleason system grades the prostate cancer tissues based on how normal they appear. Low grade cancers have a Gleason score of 6 and below, while moderately differentiated prostate cancers have a Gleason score of 7. The poorly differentiated or high grade prostate cancers are those with a Gleason score of 8 to 10. The higher the Gleason score, the more risk your cancer is likely to pose.

“For doctors to make appropriate recommendations for treatment after diagnosis of prostate cancer, they should first understand the risk that the tumor may pose to the patient,” concluded Dr. Echt. “The changing treatment patterns allows for variations on how to treat the different risk groups.”

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The Prostate Seed Institute is one of the country’s leading pioneers in prostate cancer treatment including prostate seed implementation, a fast and painless procedure that effectively treats prostate cancer in its earliest stages. With a team of oncology experts and a state-of-the-art facility, the Prostate Seed Institute provides prostate cancer patients with the most comprehensive treatment available.

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