At present, it is unclear whether routine screening of men who are not at unusually high risk will prove to save lives and outweigh the extra surgery, radiation, and complications of therapy for large numbers of patients, many of whom do not have aggressive or life-threatening tumors. Neither of the screening tests for prostate cancer is perfect. Also, the digital rectal exam can miss many prostate cancers. The diagnosis of prostate cancer can be confirmed only by a microscopic examination to identify cancerous prostate tissue. This is done by a biopsy performed in the doctor's office.
Prostate cancer is characterized by both grade and stage.
Grade is a term used to describe how closely a tumor resembles normal tissue. One way of grading prostate cancer, called the Gleason system, uses scores of 2 to 10. Another system uses G1 through G4. The higher the score, the higher the grade of the tumor. Staging of prostate cancer means determining the site and location of the disease.