Holy Cross HospitalA member of Trinity Healh
Holy Cross Hospital 1500 Forest Glen Road Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-754-7000
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Cancer Care: Areas of Expertise
Prostate Cancer

We offer expertise at a time when you need it most
Holy Cross Hospital has built a program that offers patients and their families the leading specialist in the area and state-of-the-art facilities. Because of our expertise, we can make a variety of treatment options available to men with prostate cancer, including prostate seed implantation (PSI).

In fact, we treat more patients using seed implant technology than any other hospital in suburban Maryland. And we are accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program.

The prostate, like all other organs of the body, is made up of many types of cells. Normally, cells divide in an orderly and controlled fashion to produce more cells only when they are needed. This process helps to keep the body healthy. Cancer is a group of diseases that have two things in common: Cells become abnormal and then begin to divide and grow uncontrollably. When this happens a malignant lump or tumor may appear. In the case of prostate cancer, sometimes a nodule or firm area can be felt on digital rectal exam (DRE).

Cancer cells may invade and damage the healthy surrounding tissue. In the case of prostate cancer, the adjacent normal tissues include the surrounding fat and muscle, the nerves that stimulate an erection (located in the neuro-vascular bundle), the seminal vesicles, (sacs that sit on top of the prostate that store the seminal fluid that is ejaculated during sex), the bladder, and the urethra. Cancer cells can also be released into the blood stream or into lymphatic channels and spread to other parts of the body. This process is called metastasis. When prostate cancer metastasizes, it most commonly spreads to the pelvic lymph nodes and the bones.

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