prostate cancer stage 4
Prostate Cancer Stages
Prostate Cancer Staging
Prostate cancer staging is the only way to timely diagnose your cancer and thus help you live a longer life. Normally cells grow and divide to form new cells needed by our body for survival. But, sometimes this process goes wrong and new cells form when the body does not need them. The buildup of extra cells often forms a mass of tissue called tumor. Prostate growth can be benign or malignant. However, benign growth is not as harmful as malignant growth.
When prostate cancer is diagnosed, it is detected by its stage. Prostate cancer staging is nothing but a careful attempt to determine the extent it has spread to other parts of the body.
Two popular systems for Prostate cancer staging are:
1) The Whitmore-Jewett staging ranges from A to D with sub-stages.
2) The TNM staging system describes the extent of the primary tumor, the absence or presence of metastasis to nearby lymph nodes or glands (N), and the absence or presence of distant metastasis (M).
Prostate Cancer Stages
There are basically four Prostate cancer stages, of which the prostate cancer stage 3 and the prostate cancer stage 4 are crucial:
Stage 1: This is the first stage of Prostate cancer and in this stage the tumor cannot be detected by examination but is only found incidentally during a surgery. The grade is G1 or the Gleason score is no higher than 4.
Stage 2: At this stage the tumor is more advanced but does not extend beyond the prostate. In this stage it can be found by examination either physical examination or by PSA test.
Stage 3: In this stage the tumor has extended beyond the prostate. In this stage of cancer areas like seminal vesicles can get affected, Surgery and radiation therapy may or may no be an option for prostate cancer stage 3, it depends on from patient to patient.
Stage 4: This stage can also be known as advanced stage, in this stage the cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland. Androgen deprivation therapy is usually recommended at Prostate cancer stage 4 as the initial treatment.
