Boonton residents John and Wendy Crans are grateful for the expertise, experience, compassion, and support that the Saint Clare’s Health team provided to John throughout his journey with prostate cancer.
According to the CDC, nearly 250,000 men in the U.S. are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, rendering it the second most common cancer among American males. For these individuals, the right treatment not only helps determine their survivability, but also their comfort and quality of life.
Providing the utmost in high-quality and compassionate care, the team at Prime Healthcare’s north Jersey hospitals — including Saint Clare’s Health (Denville/Dover/Boonton), Saint Mary’s General Hospital (Passaic) and Saint Michael’s Medical Center (Newark) — proudly deliver state-of-the-art treatment in a comfortable and convenient community environment and are setting a new standard of cancer care.
It’s an experience that 77-year-old Boonton resident, retired government employee, and active volunteer firefighter John Crans can attest to.
After a series of tests confirmed that his PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels were on the rise, “my urologist, Dr. Vincent Cubelli, did a biopsy of my prostate and I was subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2020,” Crans said.
While surgery was an option, his team of specialists at Saint Clare’s Health advised against it based on his age and physical condition and instead recommended that he consider TrueBeam therapy, a radiosurgery treatment system that allows doctors to target hard-to-reach tumors and deliver safe, effective, and convenient treatment in just one to five sessions compared to as many as 45 sessions of conventional radiation therapy. Since completing five treatments in January 2021, Crans is now enjoying life cancer-free and couldn’t be more grateful for the expertise, experience, compassion and support that the Saint Clare’s team provided.
The Prime Health Care recommended that John Crans undergo TrueBeam therapy, a radiosurgery treatment system that allows doctors to target hard-to-reach tumors and deliver safe, effective, and convenient treatment in just one to five sessions.
An Optimal Solution
“We check the prostates of our older male patients through physical exams and blood testing on a regular basis and John has been a patient of mine for several years,” said Dr. Cubelli, MD, attending urologist with Morris County-based Garden State Urology, an affiliate of Saint Clare’s Health. “When his PSA results began rising, we decided that we needed to do a biopsy, which ultimately revealed a number of cancerous sectors of the prostate that warranted treatment.
“While we perform surgery for prostate cancer using a laparoscopic robotic approach and Saint Clare’s possesses the state-of-the-art da Vinci robotic surgical system to accomplish that, our collaborative team agreed that surgery wasn’t ideal for John because it would pose extra risks/side effects and that radiation would be a more optimal alternative,” said Dr. Cubelli, who referred Crans to Anurag Chandra, MD, radiation oncologist at Saint Clare’s Health.
Among the radiation options available to treat prostate cancer, “stereotactic body radiation therapy, or ‘SBRT,’ is a higher-level technology that only a few of the hospitals in North Jersey have, but which is resident at Saint Clare’s,” Dr. Chandra said. “Through our TrueBeam system, we’re able to deliver precise, high-dose, pinpoint treatments of radiation to the prostate in just one to five sessions and significantly reduce the risk of collateral damage to adjacent organs.
“In addition to its low risk of toxicity, the main advantage of SBRT for patients is its convenience given that it’s delivered in just five or fewer sessions that are spaced out every three to four days,” Dr. Chandra said. “Studies reveal that at least half of all prostate cancers diagnosed in the U.S. are earlier-stage/lower-risk cases that would be great candidates for SBRT and John’s was one of them.”
An Excellent Prognosis
Since completing his TrueBeam sessions more than a year ago, Crans and his doctors have been thrilled with his progress.
“At the start, my PSA was 8.17,” Crans said, “and as of my last blood test, my PSA was .97 and I feel great.”
“For the right patient, TrueBeam can effectively address their treatment needs in a convenient setting, and John was an ideal candidate for this therapy,” Dr. Cubelli said. “Over a year after his treatment, he’s doing exceptionally well and I’m fairly confident that he’ll remain cancer-free for the long-term, though we’ll continue to monitor him in the event that anything changes.”
“John’s prognosis should be excellent,” concurred Dr. Chandra.
As they continue to enjoy family events with their children and grandchildren and prepare to celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary in May, John and Wendy Crans can’t thank the Saint Clare’s team enough.
“Every member of the Saint Clare’s team was awesome from start to finish and I truly appreciated Dr. Chandra’s honesty and the time he and my other doctors took to discuss my treatment options, their pros and cons, and the process involved,” Crans said. “I like to be close to home and after meeting with all of my doctors, there was no question that I was going to have my treatment at Saint Clare’s.”
“Equipped with the finest technologies available and a staff of doctors, nurses, and support personnel who love taking care of patients, Saint Clare’s provides exceptional oncology care,” Dr. Cubelli said. “We’re proud to offer top-quality care close to home in a comfortable, non-stressful environment.”
“We offer high-level technology like TrueBeam in the convenience of a community setting, which enables us to treat patients quickly, easily and safely,” Dr. Chandra said. “Along with so many other services that a patient might require in their cancer journey, including physical therapy/rehab, social work, nutritional counseling, speech and swallow services and more, we have all of the medical and ancillary support onsite to be able to offer patients everything they need right in their own backyard.”
View Crans’ story and other cancer success stories from Prime Healthcare patients at cancercarenj.primehealthcare.com.
Prime Healthcare is an award-winning health system operating 46 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states, providing over 2.6 million patient visits annually. It is one of the nation’s leading health systems with nearly 50,000 employees and physicians dedicated to providing the highest quality health care.
“These incredible concert events undoubtedly will provide two spectacular days of amazing entertainment, and we are thrilled to be able to bring these talented and award-winning country music artists to the L.E.A.D. FEST State Fair,” said Nick DeMauro, L.E.A.D. executive director. “Each year, our No. 1 goal is to make the State Fair bigger and better. This year we feel we’ve succeeded in creating an affordable event that truly has something for everyone.”
The 11-day State Fair takes place from June 24 to July 4 at Mercer County Park Fairgrounds, 1638 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor Township. Presented by L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence), all L.E.A.D. FEST events benefit the organization’s programs and related initiatives. The Allentown-based nonprofit’s programs help to deter youth and adults from drug use, drug-related crimes, bullying and violence.
Trackside 
Over 20 different culinary partners will be participating in this event, including festival partner Bourre, Duck Town Tavern & Liquors, Cuzzie’s Pizzeria Kitchen, Slab House, and Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall. In addition to enticing attendees with various multicultural foods that will heat up their taste buds, each spot will be giving attendees its own unique take on chili. And the best part? As an attendee of the festival, you’re the judge. “Everyone will get a lanyard with a punch-card,” Henderson said. Each attendee will be using that punch-card to do their patriotic duty of voting for best in show. And the stakes are high for this temperature-rising contest. The winner not only gets a spiffy championship belt, but also $5,000 cash to be split with a charity of their choice. “We want people to go on a culinary journey,” Henderson said. With all the culinary diversity in the Atlantic City area, he said that there’s always a new food to try, a new hot sauce to indulge in, a new way to experience a heated up flavor profile. There’s myriad ways to utilize fire-breathing foods and spices, and the Good Time Tricycle gang has made sure that they will all be showcased.
Besides setting their taste buds on fire, attendees will also be able to experience Atlantic City’s burgeoning artistic culture. There will be dozens of local artists showcasing their art, performing their respective mediums, and presenting their art for sale. “We think it’s really important to embrace local culture, especially with such a fast-growing art culture here in Atlantic City.” In addition to artists, there will be a variety of different live music entertainment as well as opportunities to watch people actually play with fire. It will be a party-like atmosphere that the folks at Good Time Tricycle have designed specifically to bring families and the local community together.
For something as special as an inaugural spicy food fest, you can’t just plop it down in any old location. As Henderson and his staff are ever focused on supporting the local community, they’ve chosen a site that’s become a focal point of a vastly growing neighborhood of Atlantic City: the Orange Loop Arena on New York Avenue, a 60,000-square-foot site that has become vital to the neighborhood now known as the Orange Loop Area. The neighborhood boasts amazing eateries, coffee shops, and local shops. “We just want people to open new culinary doors for themselves. There’s always something new to try, and why not do it while supporting your local community?”