Similarly, a tumor that can be felt during DRE or seen during an ultrasound can be classified under stage 1; that is if it affects half (or less than half) of one side of the prostate.
The patient’s PSA level is low; the Gleason score is 6 or less. Moreover, the tumor has not spread beyond the prostate.
Stage II
Stage II prostate cancer is further divided into three subgroups: IIA, IIB, and IIC.
The doctor may or may not feel or see the tumor during exams, but cancer at this stage is generally confined in the prostate. Moreover, the Gleason scores typically increase as you move further into the subgroups.
It’s also worth mentioning that, while the tumor at stage II is small, it might have an increased risk of growing or spreading.
Stage III
Like stage II prostate cancer, stage III has three subgroups: IIIA, IIIB, IIIC.
In stage IIIA, the tumor may not have spread outside the prostate, but at IIIB, it may have already extended to nearby structures such as the bladder or rectum.
At stage IIIC, the Gleason score may be 8 or 9, which means the cells look very different from healthy cells.
Stage III prostate cancer essentially means the patient has high PSA levels. It may also indicate that the cancer is locally-advanced, and it shows signs of growing and spreading.
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