Gleason 5 + 3 = 8 Prostate Cancer: Much More like Gleason 9?

To determine whether patients with Gleason score 5+3=8 prostate cancer have outcomes more similar to other patients with Gleason 8 disease or to patients with Gleason 9 disease. The SEER database was used to study 40,533 men diagnosed with N0M0 Gleason 8 or 9 prostate cancer from 2004 to 2011. Using Gleason 4+4=8 as the referent, Fine and Gray competing risks regression analyses modeled the association between Gleason score and prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM). Median follow-up was 36 months. Five-year PCSM rates for patients with Gleason 4+4=8, Gleason 3+5=8, Gleason 5+3=8, and Gleason 9 disease were 6.3%, 6.6%, 13.5%, and 13.9%, respectively (P