does leason score of 9 mean advanced prostate cancer

Hi Nat,

The Gleason score is indeed arrived at by adding two figures together. The first figure is for the majority of cancer cells that have mutilated further from normal cells. The second figure is for the next largest number of cells that have mutilated from normal. So for example a Gleason of 7 comprised of 4+3 contains a higher proportion of more advanced cancer cells than a Gleason of 7 made up of 3+4. A high Gleason score is one of the indicators of high risk which a 9 Gleason is. The Gleason is assessed by the biopsy samples being looked under a microscope in the lab. However, what in a sense is even more important is the staging which signifies whether the cancer is contained, is breaching the prostate capsule or has gone beyond it. One of the areas cancer often goes to is to bone so a bone scan is often but not always done. So a bone scan is associated with staging, rather than the Gleason. However, in cases where the cancer has spread outside the prostate, ie the place of biopsy, it is possible that in those places where the cancer has spread, that the mutation process has continued so that if one of the affected sites was biopsied, the Gleason figures there could increase to above the figures comprising those taken in the prostate.