Prostate Cancer Calculators

For patients who have a diagnosis of prostate cancer, the best known nomograms to help predict pathological stage are below.

The risk calculators are developed for men who have had a positive biopsy but have not yet received active treatment (e.g. radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy).

They are trying to answer the questions:

• is the tumour still confined to the prostate?
• has the tumour spread beyond the prostate into surrounding tissues such as the seminal vesicles?
• has the tumour spread to the lymph nodes or to more distant organs?

To use these risk calculators, the following clinical data should be available:

• your own PSA level
• the primary Gleason grade (1 to 5)
• the secondary Gleason grade (1 to 5)
• the T-stage of your tumour

Tumours can be stratified into degrees of risk. Low risk cancers are those with a PSA less than 10, a Gleason grade of 6 or less and a clinical stage of T1 or T2a. However, younger men with a family history or those with a large amount of cancer in the biopsies are at increased risk.

Intermediate risk cancers are those of Gleason 7, higher stage (T2b) or a PSA between 10 and 20 ng /ml.

High risk cancers are those with Gleason 8 to 10, Stage T3, or with a PSA or more than 20 ng/ml.

Note that these tables are based on a population of patients from the USA, and as such may not translate to patients from elsewhere.

 

1. Partin’s Tables

1. pre-treatment PSA
2. biopsy Gleason score
3. clinical stage.

It is based on data from 5000 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy by a single surgeon at Johns Hopkins in the US. Click here to view the Partin Tables.

 

2. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) or Kattan pre-treatment nomogram

The Kattan pre-treatment nomogram helps to predict pre-operatively pathological stage based on:

1. pre-treatment PSA
2. biopsy Gleason score
3. clinical stage
4. age
5. percentage of positive biopsy cores.

Click the link to view online prediction tools created by doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. These can be used to decide which treatment approaches will result in the greatest benefit for men at various stages of prostate cancer.

 

Further information

A number of information sheets are available on the website of the prostate cancer charity. Please click here to visit the Prostate Cancer UK website.