Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
What is a 'prostate pathology report'?
Once a doctor does a prostate biopsy, a pathologist will look at the tissue and submit a report. This will generally look at every core of tissue that the doctor has obtained with the biopsy and look for whether there is cancer in that tissue.
What is prostate cancer 'staging'?
Prostate cancer 'staging' is a determination of whether the cancer is confined to the prostate or has spread beyond the prostate gland itself.
What are the different stages of prostate cancer?
Generally, we look at if there is prostate cancer. Is it confined to the prostate? Is it limited, for example, to one side or both sides? Are there multiple areas of prostate cancer, and has it spread to adjacent organs? We assign a letter or a number to the different stages to denote whether it's localized to the prostate, or spread beyond.
What is the 'Gleason grade' in prostate cancer?
If prostate cancer has been detected, a Gleason score will be a sign. What this involves is assigning a number from one to five for the most common tissue pattern of the cancer and then the next most common and combining those numbers together. The highest number one can have is five plus five or ten and the lowest would be one plus one, or two. We use this number to signify how aggressive the cancer may be.
What is 'metastatic prostate cancer'?
Metastatic prostate cancer refers to cancer that has spread beyond the confines of the prostate, either to adjacent organs, or distantly. For example, to soft tissues, other organs, or the bones.
Should I get a second opinion on my prostate cancer diagnosis?
Getting a second opinion for a significant cancer is always a good idea, and often your own doctor can guide you to an appropriate physician that you can see for another opinion.
Can I have copies of my prostate pathology report?
Certainly once the prostate cancer is diagnosed, and the patient wishes to have more information or seek another opinion, the copy of the report should be made available to them.
What information will I receive with a prostate cancer diagnosis?
If prostate cancer has been detected, we like the patient to come in and speak to us about the nature of the prostate cancer. For example, speak to us about how virulent it is, whether it's spread to other organs and what some of the treatments are for this cancer.
What questions should I ask my doctor if I am diagnosed with prostate cancer?
Generally, the patient will want to know how much cancer there is present, whether it has spread to other organs, what their Gleason score is and what their treatment options are.
Can I have a misdiagnosis of prostate cancer?
It is possible to have a misdiagnosis of prostate cancer. Sometimes the core biopsies will demonstrate a low grade cancer that other specialists may feel just represent tissue changes, but not a true cancer. Therefore getting another opinion sometimes can be helpful in figuring this out.
