Scientists develop more sensitive grading system for prostate cancer

Researchers in the United States have developed a simple test that can be used to identify which patients with prostate cancer need the most aggressive treatment, even among those whose tumours seem to be at the same stage of development.

The test has been developed by a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota led by Akhouri Sinha, professor of genetics and cell biology. The research is published in the journal Cancer, and the authors include Dr Donald Gleason, who developed the present system of rating the development of prostate tumours, known as the Gleason rating system (2002;94:3135-41).

The Gleason system uses a scale of 1-10 to rate the degree to which prostate cancers have progressed, based on the …