--- description: No other treatments had worked title: Baby In Remission From Cancer After Gene-Editing Therapy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Baby In Remission From Cancer After Gene-Editing Therapy  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 6, 2015 9:20 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 6, 2015 9:20 PM CUT A one-year-old cancer patient is in remission from leukemia after receiving a [cutting-edge gene-editing therapy.](http://www.nature.com/news/leukaemia-success-heralds-wave-of-gene-editing-therapies-1.18737?WT.mc%5Fid=SFB%5FNNEWS%5F1508%5Frhbox "undefined") The patient, named Layla, received modified immune cells from a donor, _Nature_ reports, the second-ever trial of the gene-editing therapy and the first for cancer. All other treatments for Layla failed, leading her doctors to obtain special dispensation to try the largely untested procedure. Several months afterwards, her doctors say she is doing very well. The therapy works by taking immune cells, called T-cells, from a healthy donor and modifying the genes by exposing them to a particular enzyme. This step allows the foreign T-cells to be changed in a way that the patient’s immune system won’t attack them once they’re injected into the patient. The gene modification also protects the cells from cancer-fighting drugs the patient takes. The immune system of the patient is then destroyed, _Nature_ reports, and replaced with the new cells. The procedure isn’t intended to be a permanent cure, says immunologist Waseem Qasim of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust in London. Rather, the hope is that it keeps the patient healthy temporarily until a T-cell donor is found. \[[Nature](http://www.nature.com/news/leukaemia-success-heralds-wave-of-gene-editing-therapies-1.18737?WT.mc%5Fid=SFB%5FNNEWS%5F1508%5Frhbox "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4103289/baby-in-remission-from-cancer-after-gene-editing-therapy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4103289/baby-in-remission-from-cancer-after-gene-editing-therapy/"},"headline":"Baby In Remission From Cancer After Gene-Editing Therapy","datePublished":"2015-11-06T21:20:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:25:21.128Z","description":"No other treatments had worked","url":"https://time.com/4103289/baby-in-remission-from-cancer-after-gene-editing-therapy/","keywords":["Cancer","treatment","leukemia"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4103289/baby-in-remission-from-cancer-after-gene-editing-therapy/","name":"Baby In Remission From Cancer After Gene-Editing Therapy"}}]}] ```