Staging, grading of prostate cancer

Staging, grading of prostate cancer
The TNM system is crucial in the choice of individual therapy.
According to the TNM system (see Staging of cancer) are cancers on the size of the tumor (T), the appearance of "daughter tumors" (metastasis) to lymph nodes (N; Latin "nodus" = nodes) and the occurrence of metastases other organs (M) divided. From this are derived from each of the consequences for individual therapy. For prostate cancer results in the following TNM classification:


T = size of the tumor
T stage

     Tx: sorry, no tumor assessment
     T0: no evidence of a tumor
     T1: tumor is not visible or palpable
     T2: Tumor confined to the prostate
     T3: tumor grows beyond the boundaries of the prostate organ
     T4: The tumor spreads to adjacent tissues (eg, bladder, rectum, pelvic floor muscles or pelvic wall)


N = the lymph nodes
N-stage

     Nx: lymph nodes can not be assessed
     N0: no lymph nodes are affected
     N1: metastasis in the lymph nodes in the pelvis


M = metastases
M-stage

     Mx: Presence of organ metastases not assessable
     M0: no detectable organ metastases
     M1: metastases in other organs present (eg, bone)


Grading:
Furthermore, the biological behavior of tumor tissue in the histological examination is examined in detail ("grading"). This can for example Conclusions about the rate of growth of the tumor, or a tendency to metastasize to. It will be the grading levels G1, G2 and G3 - 4 distinction.