Hormone therapy will slow down or stop the spread of any cancer that might have escaped the prostate but not grown enough to be detectable yet. With a Gleason score of 9+, I would take every opportunity they offer your husband to put on the brakes between now and surgery or radiation.

If he opts for surgery, they might also suggest salvage radiation afterwards to catch any cancer that might already have moved into the area just outside the prostate.

Testing concluded that I don't have a genetic predisposition to prostate cancer, and yet mine had already spread to my spine by the time it was detected. In my non-professional opinion, Gleason 9 *always* needs to be taken seriously and treated quickly.

We have good treatments now to manage metastatic prostate cancer like mine, but it's so much better to avoid it in the first place if you're blessed with an early warning, as your husband has been.

Best of luck!