In addition to clinical staging of prostate cancer, other disease related factors are important. This includes the pretreatment PSA value and the pathology Gleason score.
Factors, such as race, patient age, alkaline phosphatase level and others, are less reliable risk factors than the PSA and Gleason score.
Several studies have developed various combinations of risk factors to define low, intermediate and high risk disease. This concept may be used to suggest various treatment approaches.
A different statistical method for calculating outcome is to use the nomogram outcome tool. This factors into the prediction model, the PSA value, Gleason score and clinical stage, but does so in a non-intuitive, unbiased way. Five-year outcomes for brachytherapy, radiation and surgery can be calculated and compared.
