Bradley Lowery has 'not long' left to live after family confirm young Sunderland fan's cancer is spreading

The family of Bradley Lowery have confirmed that the young Sunderland fan’s cancer is “spreading at a very fast rate” and that he has “not long” left to live.

Six-year-old Bradley, who is terminally ill with a rare condition called neuroblastoma, is now receiving end-of-life treatment at home, according to a statement released by his family in which they say they are “heartbroken”.

Bradley was first seen as the Sunderland mascot last year and he struck up a close friendship with England striker Jermain Defoe, with the pair regularly meeting up as Defoe made a wonderful effort to stay in touch with Bradley during his treatment.

But the latest statement from the family, issued on his Facebook page, confirmed that scans have revealed more tumours including in his lings, and that he sadly does not have long left to live.

"Bradley had a scan on Monday and it showed what we feared,” read the statement. “Bradley's cancer is spreading at a very fast rate and he has now got lots of new tumours including in his lungs.

"The lump that was causing pain was originally thought to be an abscess has got bigger and they now believe it's a tumour.

"We are heartbroken this is happening so fast.

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"Bradley is now receiving palliative care at home. He is going for radiotherapy at the end of this week and next week, but this is to control the pain in the hope we get him comfortable.

"Lots of people keep asking 'how long has he got to live?' I can't answer this as we don't know, all we know is it's not long."

Bradley celebrated his sixth birthday last week with a party in hospital that featured fire-eaters, a funfair, marquee, jugglers and stilt-walkers, and both Defoe and Sunderland teammate, Vito Mannone, attended the event to share the day with the youngster.

The young Sunderland fan was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer called neuroblastoma at the age of 18 months before going into remission after two years of treatment. However, he relapsed in July 2016, which led to him being brought into the public eye as a number of Premier League clubs helped to raise funds for his treatment, which is expensive and not available in the United Kingdom. Bradley was also the England mascot for their World Cup qualifier against Lithuania in March, where he walked out alongside Defoe.

Unfortunately, the treatment has not succeeded, and his family have confirmed that they plan to set-up the Bradley Lowery Foundation with all money raised for him going towards the new charity.