Raisa Gorbachev Battles Cancer

Doctors were waiting Tuesday for a minor infection to clear before proceeding with a bone marrow transplant on former Soviet first lady Raisa Gorbachev, who is suffering from acute leukemia.

Mrs. Gorbachev, 67, has been hospitalized at the Muenster University Clinic in northwest Germany since July 25. Her younger sister, Ludmila Titarenko, flew to Germany last month after it was determined that she was a suitable donor for a transplant.

According to the Westfaelische Nachrichten newspaper in Muenster, the Gorbachev's wanted to get treatment for her condition specifically in Germany.

A hospital statement Tuesday said preparations were still being made for the transplant and other experts called in for consultations.

"Before the transplant, however, an infection currently affecting the patient's condition must be overcome," the statement said. A spokeswoman said she had no further details other than the infection was not serious.

Gorbachev himself has been spending every day in the hospital with his wife of 46 years, and has rented hotel facilities for himself, his daughter and grandchildren to be near Mrs. Gorbachev, the newspaper said.

Mrs. Gorbachev, a former philosophy instructor, was the first wife of a Soviet leader to lead a public life, basking in the limelight at home and abroad. Russians widely resented her perceived flamboyance, and she remains, along with her husband, one of the most unpopular figures in the country.

However, the Gorbachevs are very popular in Germany, where many credit the former Soviet leader's Perestroika policies as leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and subsequent unification of Germany.