Understand the clinical staging of prostate cancer

Early prostate cancer is actually not difficult to treat, but because the symptoms are often hidden, it is very easy to develop into the late stage. Generally, prostate cancer is clinically divided into four stages: A, B, C, and D.

Stage A: The disease in stage A is completely confined to the prostate, which is very small and asymptomatic. It is only discovered accidentally during physical examination. There is no local or distant spread, and it is not easy to detect clinically. It can only be diagnosed by pathology through autopsy, prostate hyperplasia removal specimens or biopsy specimens. The lesions are localized and the cells are well differentiated. They grow relatively slowly. No nodules can be touched during rectal examination, and there are no metastatic lesions clinically.

Stage B: Stage B disease is confined to the prostate capsule. The tumor is slightly larger but has not yet broken through the prostate capsule. It is usually a single nodule of the prostate found during rectal examination, and there is no sign of distant metastasis. It must be confirmed by histological examination of prostate puncture biopsy.

Stage C: Stage C prostate cancer lesions extend beyond the prostate capsule and may invade adjacent tissues and organs such as the seminal vesicle and bladder neck, but there is no evidence of distant metastasis. If stage C prostate cancer is not treated, about 60% of patients will have their condition worsen within 5 years, half will have metastasis within 10 years, and 75% will die from prostate cancer.

Stage D: The lesion extends beyond the prostate gland and has distant metastases, including distant bones, lungs, liver, and adrenal glands. The prognosis of patients in stage D is poor, and most die from distant cancer metastases within 3 years after diagnosis. This stage accounts for about 36%.