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.