Gleason Grade Group 1 Prostate Cancer: Arguments for and Against a Cancer Designation

One of the critical challenges in managing localized prostate cancer is in balancing the need for appropriate treatment of aggressive disease while avoiding overtreatment of indolent cases. Gleason Grade Group 1 prostate adenocarcinoma has emerged as a focal point in this discussion due to its low metastatic potential. At this point in time, some clinicians and researchers are advocating for this entity to be renamed to something other than "cancer" (ie, localized indolent disease). This article explores the history of the Gleason grading system, histopathologic characteristics of Gleason score 6 disease, and its clinical implications.