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Holy Cross Hospital 1500 Forest Glen Road Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-754-7000
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Prostate Cancer
Radioactive Prostate Seed Implant Therapy

Prostate seed implantation (PSI) is an effective, one-time outpatient procedure that involves implanting low-activity, radioactive seeds directly into the prostate gland in order to kill cancer cells while minimizing radiation exposure to the surrounding healthy tissues.

This type of treatment also is called brachytherapy, which comes from the Greek word “brachy,” which means near or close to. In other words, therapy that is near or close to the tumor. Seed implants can deliver two to four times more radiation than external beam radiation.

Holy Cross Hospital Expertise
Holy Cross Hospital helped to pioneer radioactive seed implantation in the region by becoming one of the first hospitals in suburban Maryland to use it to successfully treat prostate cancer. Our specialists have performed more than 2,500 prostate seed implants, which is more than any other medical practice in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

The Holy Cross Hospital Radiation Treatment Center, located in Silver Spring, Md., is an area leader in prostate seed implants. Holy Cross Hospital uses high-quality transrectal ultrasound imaging, which has revolutionized prostate seed implantation by allowing physicians to more accurately place the radioactive seeds in the prostate gland. For this reason, the local control rates are now very high (95 percent to 99 percent). This allows the radiation dose to be concentrated in the prostate thereby avoiding radiation to the healthy surrounding normal tissues.

Learn More About
Radioactive Prostate Seed Implant Therapy
Learn about the benefits of PSI
Learn about radioactive seeds
Preparation and planning
for prostate seed implantation
Implant procedure and follow-up
Radiation safety
Possible side effects and complications
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