Medical Dictionary

Gleason grade

noun Glea·son grade \ ˈglē-sᵊn- \

medical Definition of Gleason grade

1 : a grade given to each of the two most prevalent patterns of cancer cells in tissue obtained from biopsy of a prostate tumor that is based on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 to 3 corresponding to well-differentiated cancer cells similar in appearance to normal cells in surrounding tissue and 4 to 5 corresponding to poorly differentiated cancer cells that look abnormal

2 : gleason score

Biographical Note for gleason grade

Gleason, Donald F. (1920–2008), American pathologist. A pathologist at the University of Minnesota, Gleason, in collaboration with the Veterans Administration Cooperative Urologic Research Group, undertook a study of prostatic carcinoma involving some 2,900 subjects. In 1966 he introduced the grading system for prostatic carcinoma that now bears his name and that has been adopted worldwide. Gleason was the author of numerous papers on carcinomas and urological pathology.