A youngster has been diagnosed with a cancer so rare that doctors are having to follow her treatment plan from textbooks.
Ella Stringer, 4, was diagnosed with rhabdoid sarcoma after her mother Emily discovered she had a lump on her back just after Christmas.
She was initially told it was an abscess and given antibiotics but the treatment failed to make any difference.
Ella was referred to Manchester Children's Hospital where doctors took a biopsy of the tumour and discovered it was cancerous.
Now Ms Stringer and her electrician partner Tony Waller, of Rossendale, may have to take Ella to a specialist unit in Florida for radiotherapy if her treatment isn't successful.
'She's really brave and so far it's not been to bad,' said Ms Stringer, 22.
'It is difficult but you've just got to get on with it. When she was diagnosed we asked. 'Is it quite common?'
'The doctor said 'no' and that he had only seen three cases in his whole career. They have been reading from a textbook it's that rare.
'Unfortunately the cancer has already spread to her lungs.
'But they haven't really said what chance she's got because they don't have much experience of it.'
Friends and relatives have rallied around Emily - who has had to drop out of a law course at Preston University to look after Ella - and more than £2,500 has already been raised for the young family.
Emily's close friend Sarah Hannon,30, has been helping the family as her daughter Lilly is the same age as Ella, who enjoys ballet and swimming lessons.
'We were quite shocked,' she said.
'Before the diagnosis they were all very positive and now they are not so sure.
'Ella is a lovely little girl - the only time she said she felt poorly was when the chemotherapy started. She just gets on with it.
'She doesn't want to wear a hat, even though her hair has fallen out. She's really brave.'
The family will have a better idea in the next few weeks whether Ella will need to go to Florida for treatment.
