Gleason score . The greater the disparity between the healthy cells and those that are malignant, the more likely the tumor is aggressive and will spread. The pathologist examines two biopsy samples each taken from a different area of the tumor and assigns to each a score of 1 to 5, based on the degree of cell differentiation. The more abnormal the tissue, the higher the score. The sum of the two scores produces the Gleason score.
Higher scores suggest aggressive tumors that likely require aggressive treatment.
It can be used to detect pelvic lymph nodes enlarged by cancer, but results may be insufficiently for a diagnosis. CT scans are used only when tumors are large or associated with high PSA levels. A bone scan is a nuclear imaging procedure that is used to detect the spread of cancer to bones when aggressive tumors and metastasis are suspected. It is not used for patients with small cancers and low PSA levels. Join a live chat or threaded forum .