Modified gleason grading. An updated review
Burkhard Helpap1 and Lars Egevad2
1Department of Pathology, Center of Uropathology, General Hospital Hegau-Bodensee-Klinikum Singen, Academic Hospital of the University of Freiburg, Germany and 2International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/ WHO) Lyon, France.
Offprint requests to: Prof. Dr. B. Helpap, PO Box 720, 78207 Singen, Germany. e-mail burkhard.helpap@hbh-kliniken.de
Summary. At an ISUP (International Society of Urological Pathology) consensus conference in 2005 in San Antonio, Texas, the old Gleason grading system for prostatic carcinoma from 1966 underwent its first major revision. With this modified Grading system a shift of the most frequent Gleason scores from 6 to 7a (3+4) in biopsy specimens and an increased degree of agreement between specimens of biopsies and radical prostatectomies with carcinoma of the prostate could be demonstrated. After modified grading of GS 3+4=7a tumours 95% were stage pT2, while 79% of GS 4+3=7b tumours were stage pT3-4. In cases with PSA <10ng/ml and tumour extent <20% the most frequent Gleason scores were 6 and 7a. Cases with serum PSA >10ng/ml or tumour extent >20% had higher scores (7b or higher). Cancers with tumour infiltration of <1mm in one of 12 cores and PSA <10ng/ml were mainly low grade (Gleason scores 6 and 7a) and may correspond to so called insignificant carcinoma of the prostate.
Conclusion: With the modified Gleason system, grade, stage, tumour extent and serum PSA show good correlations and characterize the difference between low and high grade malignancy of prostate carcinoma. Histol Histopathol 24, 661-666 (2009)
Key words: Adenocarcinoma of the prostate, Modified Gleason Grading, Core needle biopsy, Radical prostatectomy
DOI: 10.14670/HH-24.661