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Gleason Grade/Score and HIFU Focal Therapy For Prostate Cancer

HIFI Focal Therapy can be used to treat prostate cancer that has been diagnosed as having a Gleason Score of 7 or below and has not spread outside of the prostate.

If you have had an MRI/biopsy and have been given a diagnosis of prostate cancer you will have some results that you now need to consider. You will have told your Gleason score which is used to evaluative the stage of your prostate cancer, how aggressive the cancer is and how likely it is to spread outside of the prostate.

The Gleason grading system is based upon cells viewed under a microscope. The pattern structure of these cells indicate how quickly they are likely to grow. The pattern grade is scored between 1 and 5. If you have prostate cancer, you will have Gleason grades of 3, 4 or 5. The higher the grade, the more likely the cancer is to spread outside the prostate.

“In HIFU Focal Therapy the aim is to get rid of the cancer that is causing concern whilst ensuring that the patient does not become incontinent and has a much lower chance of losing erectile function.”
Mr Tim Dudderidge, Urological Consultant at University Hospital, Southampton, Berkshire

The results from your biopsy will have one or more grades of cancer and the overall Gleason Score is derived from adding the most common grade in the samples to the second highest grade.

The first score is the most common grade in all the samples. The second is the highest grade of what’s left. When these two grades are added together, the total is called the Gleason score.

The Gleason Scores and grade groups where HIFU Focal Therapy can be considered as a treatment option are below.

  • Gleason score 6 (3 + 3) or grade group 1
  • Gleason score 7 (3 + 4) or grade group 2
  • Gleason score 7 (4 + 3) or grade group 3

“Focal therapy will deliver a huge shift in prostate cancer treatment. Not everyone may realise it yet, but it’s going to have a massive impact.”
Hashim Ahmed, chair of NHS England’s Clinical Expert Group for Prostate Cancer and Chair of Urology at Imperial College London

If your Gleason score and grade is of the type where HIFU Focal Therapy is a viable treatment option then there may be no need for prolonged Active Surveillance, surgery or radiotherapy. Below is a simple diagram outlining the different treatment options for prostate cancer and the risk of side effects for those treatments.

“HIFU is something people need to be aware of – I believe this treatment should be more widely available and more widely promoted. It wasn’t something suggested to me as a possibility by my urologist and I actually raised it myself. I would recommend HIFU and in fact have recommended it to others.”

Keith (The Focal Therapy Clinic Patient)

Get In Touch

As a group of consultants we are passionate about all prostate cancer sufferers knowing about all of their treatment options.

Based upon the details that you know and can provide to us, we will send you a Plain English personalised preliminary suitability report for HIFU Focal Therapy treatment of your prostate cancer.

You can use the information we provide in your conversations with your existing NHS and/or private treatment consultant. Should you wish to talk with us further we would be grateful to help you, but there is absolutely no obligation for you to do so whatsoever.