Stages, types and grades of prostate cancer

The type of prostate cancer tells you which type of cell the cancer started in. The most common type is adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Doctors group prostate cancer into risk groups. In the UK, they now use the Cambridge Prognostic Group (CPG) system that divides prostate cancer into 5 risk groups.

The Grade Group gives your doctor an idea of how the cancer might behave and what treatment you need. This is also known as the Gleason score.

The TNM staging is a way of describing how far prostate cancer has grown. It stands for Tumour, Node, Metastasis.

Localised prostate cancer is cancer that is completely inside the prostate gland. In TNM staging this is the same as T1 and T2 stage.

Locally advanced prostate cancer means the cancer has broken through the capsule (covering) of the prostate gland.

Metastatic prostate cancer means that a cancer that began in the prostate has spread to another part of the body. It is sometimes called advanced prostate cancer.