The Gleason Score is a numerical scale used to gauge the severity of, and assign a stage to, any given case of prostate cancer. The prostate is a small, “kiwi-sized” gland unique to the male reproductive system, found near the bladder. The Gleason Score allows physician’s to assign a number to abnormal prostate tissue and gauge appropriate treatment options.
Pathologists and urologists have to work together, since the first step in determining the Gleason Score is to take a biopsy of the prostate tissue.
The Scoring Process:
This tumor scoring system is based upon microscopic tumour patterns that are measured by the pathologist, based on a prostate biopsy. The pathologist should accurately read the transparencies and control score of the tumour. This requires skill on pathologist’s part, since if he or she fails to recognize all the patterns, the readings may be inaccurate.
• Grade 1: the cancerous tissue will closely resemble the normal tissue
• Grade 2: tissue which still has well advanced structures, such as the glands; though they are also much larger and also the tissues are present amongst them.
• Grade 3: tissue still has the recognizable glands; though, the cells are dimmer
• Grade 4: the tissue has hardly any glands which are identifiable
• Grade 5: there are no identifiable glands in the tissue
Read more at Gleason Scale.