Patients need to provide T stage , Gleason score , life expectancy and possibly PSA for the NCCN flowchart. Below is a list of key issues to consider when deciding between radiation, surgery or watchful waiting. To assure you are receiving the best treatment, the radiation oncologists and urologists at Palo Alto Medical Foundation meet twice a month and decide together on recommendations for patients between radiation, surgery or watchful waiting depending on each specific case. Prostate cancer is felt on exam and is confined within the prostate.
Prostate cancer is felt on exam to extend beyond the prostate.
An expanded guide to understanding T stage. Radiation is recommended for most T3 prostate cancers because the tumor has spread outside the prostate. However, if you have stage T3a prostate cancer that extends beyond the prostate on one side only, your Gleason score is less than 7 and the cancer is not very extensive within the prostate, radical prostatectomy may be an option. In general, if the tumor extends beyond the prostate, radiation will be advised. Sometimes the tumor may seem to be contained within the prostate, but a high Gleason score and PSA would make the odds of the tumor being beyond the prostate very high.