Prostate cancer staging is an integral part of treatment. There is no way around it. Until your cancer care team recognize how matured your tumor is, they can not effectively formulate a treatment plan that will best address your needs. Staging is the step where they categorize how developed the tumor is. Prostate cancer survival rates are likewise determined by the staging process. Obviously, this is not anything you wish to overlook whenever you are considering your prostate cancer treatment plan. That is why it is the very first thing your doctor will do after you have a verified diagnosis. The primary staging system utilized by mostprostate cancer specialists in Saint Louisincluding the ones at Metropolitan Urological Specialists is put out by the American Joint Committee on Cancer. Their system is called the TNM system because it is derived from the 3 primary factors of the extent of the tumor (T), whether the cancer operates in the lymph nodes (N), and whether the cancer has metastasized (spread) to other parts of your body (M). Along with that, the TNM system also takes into account PSA level. PSA is just one of the very first warning indicators of prostate cancer. PSA stands for "prostate-specific antigen." The higher your PSA level, the more probable you are to have cultivated advanced prostate cancer. A final factor considered by the TMN system is your Gleason score, which is a measure of just how likely your cancer is to spread. The higher your Gleason score is, the more at risk you are. Whenever each one of these factors are combined together, you get to your prostate cancer stage under the TNM system. The higher your number is, the more advanced your prostate cancer is. Regardless of whether you have researched the numerous prostate cancer stages before, now is a great time to review. The doctors at the American Joint Committee on Cancer just recently released an adjusted system for optimum clarity and accuracy. Although there are several sub-classifications to the different stages, let's concentrate on the primary staging groups as we think about this question ofprostate cancer staging within Saint Louis, Missouri. With Stage I, your physician may or may not have been able to feel the tumor with a digital rectal exam. If not via the rectal exam, your physician will have spotted the tumor although elevated PSA levels or by taking out your prostate. At this phase, the tumor is at its initial development and is going to not have arrived at the lymph nodes or other organs. In the event that you can have your cancer detected at Stage I, your prostate cancer survival rates are the highest, which is the reason why you ought to submit to annual prostate cancer screenings. With Stage II, your doctor still may or may not have the capacity to feel the tumor via a digital rectal examination. If the tumor can be felt, it is going to be visibly physically bigger than a Stage I tumor, but that will not dramatically affect you insofar as you will not have the tumor spread to the lymph nodes or other organs. If the tumor can not be really felt by a rectal exam, it can still be classified as a Stage II tumor if the PSA level is over reasonable levels for Stage I. Stage II is broken into 3 sub-categories, which are calculated by just how high your Gleason score is and as a result how likely the cancer is to spread out further. With Stage III, the cancerous cells will not have expanded outside the prostate, but it very well might have spread in the prostate to a large extent. It will not have spread to the lymph nodes, but it may have spread inside the prostate to the seminal vesicles. Within this stage, your PSA level and Gleason rating will be really high. With Stage IV, the tumor has begun to relocate beyond the prostate gland. Again, this one may be broken into 2 different sub-categories. Within Stage IVA, the tumor has spread to the lymph nodes but no farther. In Stage IVB, the tumor has dispersed outside the lymph nodes into the bones or other body organs. Again, the PSA level and Gleason score will be very high within this group. This is only a very quick overview of a really complicated system with lots of implications for your health and your recovery plan. If you want to have this all further explained, the best thing you can do is to visit a skilled team of cancer care professionals in Saint Louis. Serving the people of Creve Coeur, Florissant, Kirkwood, Crestwood, Chesterfield, and Washington, Missouri, you can count on Metropolitan Urological Specialists. They have the experience you need to develop a prostate cancer treatment plan to maximize yourcancer survival rates.
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