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Pope 'cured' leukaemia

Mexico City - 17/04/2005 - A Mexican man who suffered from leukaemia as a boy is crediting Pope John Paul II with performing a lifesaving miracle when the pontiff kissed his head in 1990.

Reports of miracles attributed to John Paul are fuelling speculation he soon may be placed on the path to sainthood - although for a miracle to be considered in the saint-making process it has to have occurred after John Paul's death.

Jose Heron Badillo was 4 when the pope visited his home state of Zacatecas, Mexico; Badillo had received treatment both locally and in Mexico City for leukaemia, but the family considered his disease incurable.

But after greeting the pope, he said his disease essentially disappeared.

"He saw me there, with my body weakened, and he asked God to alleviate my condition," Badillo said in a telephone interview. "I felt a very great emotion, a degree of happiness I believe is the greatest possible. It's something hard to describe in words."

His family, and their priest, have no doubt it was a miracle.

"We thank God and the pope, because it was through him that the miracle was performed," said Laura Patricia Badillo, 18, his younger sister. "We are so very grateful."

Jose Heron's cure occurred while John Paul was very much alive, meaning it should have little bearing whether the pope is canonised. But that matters little to the family.

"For us, he was a saint from the moment he interceded on our behalf," Badillo said. "His passing was hard for us, but it was easier because we know he went to be with the God. If he helped us so much here on earth, imagine how much greater his intercession will be up there."

The documentation on the case has been sent to Rome, said Father Humberto Salinas, a priest from the diocese of northern Zacatecas state who befriended the family.

Kissed the boy's head

The boy had been selected in 1990 to hold a dove as part of the airport ceremonies to welcome John Paul. "The family didn't come to ask for anything," said Salinas. "They just wanted him to be near the Pope."

"The pope kissed the boy's head. He had lost his hair already, and his face bore the marks of the radiation therapy," Salinas recalled. "The Pope was smiling, and he told the boy to let the dove go."

Badillo recalls that before meeting the Pope, "I hadn't eaten anything for 10 or 15 days. After that, I got my appetite back and began to eat."

Soon thereafter, he claimed tests showed the disease had disappeared.

"The doctors said it was a rapid and complete recovery," Salinas said. Asked if it was a miracle, Salinas said that "given the life and holiness of John Paul II and the faith of the boy and his family, I don't think there is any reason to doubt it".

Mexican Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, who headed the Vatican office on health care issues under John Paul, said there was no medical explanation for the boy's recovery.

Mexican priest, family credit miracle to pope

MEXICO CITY - Pope John Paul II is being credited with performing a miracle when he met a young boy with leukemia in 1990 by a priest and relatives of the now 19-year-old Mexican.

Reports of miracles attributed to John Paul are fueling speculation he soon may be placed on the path to sainthood - although for a miracle to be considered in the saint-making process it has to have occurred after John Paul's death.

Jose Heron Badillo, who met John Paul when the pope visited his home state of Zacatecas, Mexico, had received treatment both locally and in Mexico City for leukemia, but the family considered his disease incurable.

A priest and relatives of Badillo now believe that the pope performed a miracle when he kissed the gravely ill boy on the head in May 1990.

"We thank God and the pope, because it was through him that the miracle was performed," said Laura Patricia Badillo, 18, Jose Heron's younger sister. "We are so very grateful."

Dacogen" Effective in Myelodysplastic Syndromes

According to results presented at the 46th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the agent Dacogen" (decitabine) appears to provide promising anti-cancer activity in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

MDS is a disease in which the cells in a person's bone marrow are not functioning normally. The bone marrow (and circulating blood) contains early blood-forming cells called stem cells, which grow and mature into the 3 blood cell types: white blood cells, which protect the body from infection; red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues; and platelets, which help the blood to clot. In the case of MDS, not enough normal blood cells are being produced and/or the blood cells die prematurely.

This condition is sometimes referred to as a pre-leukemia or "smoldering" leukemia because it often develops into acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive type of cancer. Some patients with MDS also have additional abnormalities, including genetic abnormalities of the blood cells, a high number of immature blood cells (called blasts) in the bone marrow, or decreasing numbers of red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets. These individuals are at a higher risk for a more rapid progression to leukemia than are those who have more favorable cell features. There are five different stages, or extent, of MDS that include (in order of disease progression) refractory anemia, refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts in transition, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

Standard treatment for MDS can include a range of therapies, from observation and supportive care to an aggressive stem cell transplant, depending upon the extent or aggressiveness of the disease, as well as the medical condition and age of the patient. There are several agents in clinical trials in the evaluation of treatment for MDS. Dacogen" is an agent that disrupts cellular processes so that cancer cells stop growing. Dacogen" is currently in the last phase of clinical trials prior to FDA review.

Researchers from the MD Anderson Cancer Center recently conducted a clinical trial that is the last phase prior to FDA review. Patients in this trial had been diagnosed with MDS and were treated with either Dacogen" plus supportive care or supportive care alone and all patients were then directly compared. Anti-cancer responses occurred in 17% of patients treated with Dacogen", with an average response duration of 266 days. Conversely, no patients treated with supportive care only achieved a disappearance of cancer. The average duration of time to cancer progression or death was 340 days for those treated with Dacogen", compared to 219 days for those treated with supportive care only. All patients who achieved a response to Dacogen" had improvement in health status, fatigue levels, ability to breathe, and overall quality of life.

The researchers concluded that Dacogen" was an effective agent in the treatment of MDS. Patients with MDS may wish to speak with their physician regarding the risks and benefits of participating in a clinical trial further evaluating Dacogen". Two sources of information regarding ongoing clinical trials include the National Cancer Institute (cancer.gov) and www.cancerconsultants.com.

Reference: Issa J-P, et al. First Report of the Phase III North American Trial of Decitabine in Advanced Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Proceedings from the 2004 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. Presented Sunday, December 5, 2004, 4:30 PM. Abstract Number: 67

About LEUKINE

LEUKINE, a man-made form of a naturally occurring growth factor that helps fight infection and disease in appropriate patients by enhancing cells of the immune system, was approved in the United States in 1991, and is marketed by Berlex, Inc.

LEUKINE is the only growth factor approved in the United States for use following induction chemotherapy in older adults with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) to shorten the time to neutrophil recovery and reduce the incidence of severe and life-threatening infections and infections resulting in death.

LEUKINE has also been approved in the U.S. for use in four additional indications: myeloid reconstitution following allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT), peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) mobilization and subsequent myeloid reconstitution in patients undergoing PBSC transplantation, and bone marrow transplantation failure or engraftment delay. LEUKINE has been administered to more than 300,000 patients.

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