ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Anatomic and clinical staging remains the mainstay by which clinical decisions are directed in patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. The tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system is the most commonly used system, in which tumors are staged according to primary tumor size and presence or absence of either lymph node or distant metastasis. The widespread use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening test for prostate cancer has led to an impressive stage migration with more patients presenting with organ-confined disease. Although current clinical and pathologic features provide useful information allowing clinicians to stratify patients into different risk categories and dictate treatment, differences remain in terms of accurately predicting outcome for any particular patient.1
