Staging prostate cancer and its relationship to prognosis

Abstract 

The objective of staging is to group malignancies with similar prognosis and therapeutical approach, to be able to compare clinicopathologic data from different institutions, and to perform clinical trials or research studies on a homogeneous population of patients.

Accurate pathology staging for prostate cancer is critical to determine treatment of individual patients and it reflects ultimate expected clinical outcome. Radical prostatectomy Gleason score, pathologic T stage, lymph node and surgical margin status are independent predictors of biochemical recurrence-free survival.

The TNM staging system is the most widely used system for prostate cancer staging, assessing the extent of primary tumor, the absence or presence of regional lymph node involvement, and the absence or presence of distant metastases. This system is in constant evolution and several modifications have been made over time in an attempt to improve the uniformity of patient evaluation, and to maintain a clinically relevant classification system.

Keywords: prognosis, prostate cancer, staging