Grading (tumors)

In pathology, grading is a measure of the cell appearance in tumors and other neoplasms.

Pathology grading systems classify the microscopic cell appearance abnormality and deviations in their rate of growth with the goal of predicting developments at tissue level (see also the 4 major histological changes in dysplasia).

The histologic tumor grade score along with the metastatic (whole-body-level cancer-spread) staging are used to evaluate each specific cancer patient, develop their individual treatment strategy and to predict their prognosis.

If no specific system is used, the following general grades are most commonly used, and recommended by the American Joint Commission on Cancer and other bodies:[2] Of the many cancer-specific schemes, the Gleason system,[3] named after Donald Floyd Gleason, used to grade the adenocarcinoma cells in prostate cancer is the most famous.

Lower Gleason scores describe well-differentiated less aggressive tumors.