Des Moines second grader thriving after life-saving leukemia treatment

Des Moines boy celebrates being cancer-free with the help of breakthrough drug

��vlog EIGHT NEWS AT TEN. DES MOINES SECOND GRADER JUST CELEBRATED A MAJOR MILESTONE. ��vlog LAURA TERRELL HAS THE STORY THAT WILL NO DOUBT BRING YOU JOY. GABE FULLER IS USED TO THIS ROUTINE. BY NOW. WALKING HAND IN HAND WITH MOM TO A PLACE HE KNOWS WELL, AT LEAST PROBABLY MORE THAN 50 TIMES. THE EIGHT YEAR OLD ENTERS FAMILIAR HALLWAYS BEFORE GETTING TO HIS FINAL DESTINATION. INSIDE BLANK CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL. HELLO. I KNOW FIRST COMES THE MEASUREMENTS. 49 AND 38. OH MY GOSH, THAT’S LIKE AN EIGHTH OF AN INCH TALLER. DID YOU BRING YOUR SISTER WITH YOU? YES. AND THEN TO THE EXAM ROOM. OKAY. THAT’S A GOOD ONE. WHERE A SELFIE. YOU APPROVE? OKAY. AND A GAME OF CATCH HELPS PASS THE TIME. READY? COMING TO YOU UNTIL THE DOCTOR COMES IN TODAY. I ONLY HAVE A BLOOD DRAW AND A SOMETHING CALLED A BREATHING TREATMENT. GABE’S SYMPTOMS STARTED IN KINDERGARTEN. RANDOM FEVERS AND LEG PAIN. I PLAYED BASEBALL, BUT RIGHT WHEN. BUT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON, I GOT. I GOT CANCER, AND I COULDN’T PLAY ANYMORE. ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA. GABE’S WAS A RARE AND AGGRESSIVE FORM THAT DOCTORS SAY IS HARD TO TREAT. IT’S THE WORST THING YOU CAN IMAGINE. LIKE JUST THE SHOCK, THE CHEMOTHERAPY WAS GRUELING. WHILE MOST FIRST GRADERS TRICK OR TREATED, GABE SPENT HALLOWEEN IN A HOSPITAL BED FOR A YEAR AND A HALF, HE LOST HIS HAIR, BUT NOT HIS JOYFUL SPIRIT. AFTER ABOUT TWO MONTHS, WE KNEW A TRANSPLANT WAS IN HIS FUTURE BECAUSE THE CHEMO DRUGS WEREN’T BEING EFFECTIVE. DOCTORS NEEDED TO GET THE CANCER LEVEL LOW ENOUGH SO GABE COULD UNDERGO A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT, A BREAKTHROUGH DRUG CALLED BLINATUMOMAB DID JUST THAT. WE HAD TO GET HIS CANCER DOWN TO 0.01% PRESENT IN HIS BLOODSTREAM. AND GLENN WAS, LIKE THE FINAL DRUG THAT WE USED TO BE ABLE TO, LIKE, ZAP IT. ��vlog TOLD YOU ABOUT BLINATUMOMAB BACK IN JULY. DOCTORS CALL THIS IMMUNOTHERAPY DRUG A GAME CHANGER WHEN IT COMES TO TREATING LEUKEMIA. IT HAS TAKEN OUR CURE RATES FROM PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT BELOW 90% FOR ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA TO WELL ABOVE 95%, AND IT’S ALSO VERY EFFECTIVE IN VERY HARD TO CURE CASES LIKE GABE’S WAS THE CLINICAL TRIALS FOR BLINATUMOMAB ENDED LATE LAST YEAR, WHICH MEANT GABE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST KIDS TO GET THE MIRACLE DRUG AT BLANK CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, A SUCCESSFUL BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA HOSPITAL WAS THE FINAL STEP IN BEATING CANCER. BUT THERE IS ONE THING LEFT TO DO BELKNAP DE. HEY, NOW YOU’RE CHEMO WAS REALLY HARD, SO I WAS SERENADE BY HIS CARE TEAM AND A MOMENT THAT SYMBOLIZES THE FIGHT IS OVER. OKAY, HOLD ON. ALL RIGHT, LET HER RIP. IN DES MOINES, LAURA TERRELL ��vlog EIGHT NEWS. IOWA’S NEWS LEADER. OH, MAN. HOW COULD YOU NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH GABE IN THAT STORY? AND GABE IS ALREADY BACK ON THE FIELD PLAYING BALL. DOCTORS SAY HE NOW HAS NO MORE OF A CHANC

Updated: 11:43 AM CDT Oct 17, 2025

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Des Moines boy celebrates being cancer-free with the help of breakthrough drug

Updated: 11:43 AM CDT Oct 17, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Gabe Fholer was in kindergarten when he started experiencing fevers and unexplained pain. His mom knew something was wrong. "Our pediatrician came in and said his white counts were so high the machine couldn't read them," Stephanie Fholer said.Gabe was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. "Just the worst thing you can imagine. Just the shock. He was a very healthy, normal, active 6-year-old," Stephanie Fholer said. Gabe spent a year and a half going through treatment, including chemotherapy. "This particular type of ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) was very challenging to cure. It required some less conventional approaches at the time," Dr. Nick Fustino said. Doctors say Gabe was one of the first children at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines to receive a breakthrough drug called Blinatumomab. ��vlog first told you about Blinatumomab back in July. Late last year, clinical trials for the immunotherapy drug ended early due to its clear benefits, and Blinatumomab is now standard practice for treating B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer.Blinatumomab works in combination with chemotherapy but is considered less toxic and does something chemo cannot do. "It has taken our cure rates from probably a little bit below 90% for acute lymphoblastic leukemia to well above 95%. And it's also very effective in very hard-to-cure cases like Gabe's was," Fustino said.In Gabe's case, Blinatumomab helped get his cancer down to a level low enough so he was able to get a bone marrow transplant. "His transplant was deemed effective," Stephanie Fholer said. "There is no sign of cancer in his body, and right now he has no more chance of getting leukemia than you or I do." Gabe is now back on the ballfield doing what he loves and enjoying second grade in Des Moines."It's a terrible thing to have happen, but our outcome has been miraculous. Medicine is just amazing," Stephanie Fholer said.» Subscribe to ��vlog's YouTube page» Download the free ��vlog app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google PlayMore news we loveWATCH: Paul McCartney fan gets birthday wish in Des MoinesWATCH: Marshalltown retiree returns to teaching through assisted living program

DES MOINES, Iowa —

Gabe Fholer was in kindergarten when he started experiencing fevers and unexplained pain. His mom knew something was wrong.

"Our pediatrician came in and said his white counts were so high the machine couldn't read them," Stephanie Fholer said.

Gabe was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

"Just the worst thing you can imagine. Just the shock. He was a very healthy, normal, active 6-year-old," Stephanie Fholer said.

Gabe spent a year and a half going through treatment, including chemotherapy.

"This particular type of ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) was very challenging to cure. It required some less conventional approaches at the time," Dr. Nick Fustino said.

Doctors say Gabe was one of the first children at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines to receive a breakthrough drug called Blinatumomab.

��vlog first told you about Blinatumomab back in July. Late last year, clinical trials for the immunotherapy drug ended early due to its clear benefits, and Blinatumomab is now standard practice for treating B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer.

Blinatumomab works in combination with chemotherapy but is considered less toxic and does something chemo cannot do.

"It has taken our cure rates from probably a little bit below 90% for acute lymphoblastic leukemia to well above 95%. And it's also very effective in very hard-to-cure cases like Gabe's was," Fustino said.

In Gabe's case, Blinatumomab helped get his cancer down to a level low enough so he was able to get a bone marrow transplant.

"His transplant was deemed effective," Stephanie Fholer said. "There is no sign of cancer in his body, and right now he has no more chance of getting leukemia than you or I do."

Gabe is now back on the ballfield doing what he loves and enjoying second grade in Des Moines.

"It's a terrible thing to have happen, but our outcome has been miraculous. Medicine is just amazing," Stephanie Fholer said.