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Question on Gleason Scores

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Prostate Cancer
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Posted 9/11/2009 11:40 PM (GMT 0)
My Gleason was an 8 (4+4).   My question is does Gleason start out low and go up in grade.  For example, could I have had a Gleason of 6 and the cancer goes undetected and becomes an 8.   Appreciate any input.  
Posted 9/11/2009 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Rob,

Your gleason score is made up of two numbers, the first is the majority of cancer cell grade in the sample, the second, is the lesser grade, if different, or in your case, it can be the same.

Yes, as the cancer grows and if it becomes more agressive, it would increase the gleason score. The cancer cells are rated from 1 to 5, 5 being the most agressive, 4's being moderately agressive.

There are still a lot of other variables and factors, of course, we are talking about PC, lol. Nothing is easy. There are men that are gleason 6, and in their lifetime, it never gets higher. And there are other men, who start out low, and over time they become more and more agressive.

Hope this helps. A good book on prostate cancer would explain it much better than I can, but that's the general gist.

David in SC
Posted 9/12/2009 2:15 AM (GMT 0)
Rob,
My understanding from reading Dr Walsh's book is that normal prostate cells have a certain shape and composition, as they mutate to cancer cells their looks and composition changes. The further they are from normal prostate cells the higher their grade. I would assume that the mutation starts slow and getting worse with time. A Gleason 8-10 will indicate that the cells look very different from normal cells.
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