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Living with Prostate Cancer
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OPTIONS
LEARNING ABOUT THE CANCER
Before treating your cancer, your healthcare team must learn more
about it. How fast is it growing? Has it spread beyond the prostate? Your treatment will depend on your PSA result,
what the cancer cells look like (their grade), and where they're located (their stage). Your age, lifestyle, and general
health will also help you and your healthcare team choose the best treatment. Talk to your healthcare team if you have
questions.
Grading Cancer
The pathologist grades cancer cells removed during biopsies.
Low-grade cells look more like normal cells. High-grade cells vary in size and shape. Cells from two biopsy sites are
graded using a Gleason score (or sum) of between 2 and 10. The higher the score, the more likely cancer cells will grow
faster and spread. The pathologist will give your urologist a report about the biopsy. Ask your urologist for a copy of
the report.
Staging Cancer
Based on results from your tests, your urologist will stage the
cancer. This shows how much the cancer has grown and spread. Lower-stage tumors are likely to be confined to the
prostate. Higher-stage tumors may have spread from the prostate to the seminal vesicles, lymph nodes, bones, lungs,
or other body tissues.
Stage
T1a. Tumor in center of prostate that can't be felt
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Stage
T2a. Small tumor on one side of prostate that can be felt
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Stage
T2c. Large tumors confined to prostate that can be felt
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Stage
T4. Tumors extend outside prostate
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Stage
M+. Tumors spread to other body areas
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Choosing the Best Treatment
Prostate cancer can be treated in many ways. Your test results and
the grade and stage of the cancer are used to help you and your healthcare team choose the best treatment plan. The
goal may be to cure the cancer or to control it. You may have more than one type of treatment. Or, you may decide not
to start any treatment now. To help choose the best treatment for you, find out as much as you can about these
options.
- Treating to cure. If cancer is detected at an early stage,
chances for recovery are good. Often the cancer may be removed surgically or destroyed inside your body using
radiation.
- Treating to control. Cancer found at a high grade and stage
has spread. But in many cases it can be controlled. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, or
chemotherapy.
- Watchful waiting. Based on your health, age, and type of
tumor, your doctors may advise you not to be treated right away. This is called "watchful waiting." Your healthcare
team will monitor your health, decide when you'll need follow-up exams, and schedule treatment at a later date if
needed.
New Treatment Options
New treatment options for prostate cancer may become available in
the future. These may include new surgical or radiation techniques or new medications. Your healthcare team can tell
you if any of these options might be right for you. Ask the members of your healthcare team to contact you if you could
be treated as part of a clinical trial (a research project to study a new treatment). Information about prostate cancer
clinical trials is provided by some of the groups listed on the back cover of this booklet.
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