Bradley Lowery ‘feeling better’ as he undergoes immunotherapy treatment trial in London
BRAVE Bradley Lowery is "feeling better" as he undergoes immunotherapy treatment a week after being in "horrendous pain".
The ill tot, who is battling neuroblastoma, was forced to cancel his appearance as Sunderland's mascot last week amid fears his cancer was progressing.
But his relieved family posted on social media last night that his condition has improved.
The football fan is currently at a hospital in London where he is undergoing the pioneering new treatment.
It aims to harness the power of the body's immune system to fight the disease.
Doctors target the T-cells, a key type of immune cell in the body, modifying or weaponising them to allow them to seek out and destroy the cancer.
An update on his Facebook page, Bradley Lowery's Fight Against Neuroblastoma, read: "Bradley has did super good today been attached to machines for hours getting his T Cells taken out ready to be modified.
“We will have to have an unexpected stay in London tonight as the procedure took longer than expected so we not going to be out of hospital for another few hours.
“He is feeling better in himself and his walking has improved a lot so that’s good news for us. Thank you for the continued support it is very much appreciated.”
Bradley, from Blackhall Colliery near Hartlepool, is a massive Sunderland fan and the club have rallied around him since his terminal diagnosis last year.
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He has been led out onto the pitch several times whilst clutching the hand of his hero Jermain Defoe – the team’s striker who has netted 14 Premier League goals so far this season.
He was due to be a mascot at the Riverside game last Wednesday but his family were forced to cancel his appearance.
On his Facebook page they wrote: "Bradley is not good. He has been in horrendous pain with his leg since yesterday to the point he couldn't move in bed last night.
"We have had him to the hospital today and they have give him an x-ray but it didn't show anything.
"The doctors gut feeling is that it is his cancer progressing but we need to wait and watch for a few days to see what happens.
"Bradley was due to be mascot at the Riverside tonight but he is not well enough to go so we have had to cancel it.
"I am hoping and praying that it is nothing serious and he starts to improve as I'm not ready for this to happen yet."
Bradley’s story touched the hearts of the nation after he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January 2013 when he was aged just two.
A rare tumour was found above his left kidney and he was given a 50-50 chance of survival.
Battling Brad managed to defeat the illness but tragically relapsed after some time in remission in July 2016.
In a crushing blow his family later found his diagnosis was terminal and declared the news in a blog post earlier this year.
A message on Bradley’s campaign page read: “Unfortunately the results are not what we wanted to hear.
"Bradley scans show that there has been a small reduction in some parts however there is a new tumour on the bottom of his back.
"As you can imagine we are devastated and heartbroken with this news as I really wanted the new treatment to work.
"We are not sure where we go from here as it will depend on his bone marrow biopsy results.
"He is getting this done tomorrow but results won't be back for another week.
"Why is life so cruel? Why do we have to get bad news time after time?
"Why does my baby not get a break?"
Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that most commonly afflicts babies and young children.
The disease develops from special nerve cells, known as neuroblasts, which get left behind from the child's development in the womb.
It mostly begins in the sufferer's adrenal glands located above the kidneys but can occur in the nerve tissue that runs along the spinal cord in the neck, chest, abdomen or pelvis.
The vicious illness can then spread to other organs like the bone, bone marrow, lymph nodes and skin.
Neuroblastoma afflicts around 100 children a year in the UK but the cause of the disease is still not known.
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