TESTS have revealed that the pioneering cancer treatment Freddie Rowe-Crowder is undergoing has been working.

The brave eight year old from Wheathamptead arrived back in England on Monday night having spent a month in Germany enduring invasive tests and the fourth cycle of the antibody treatment made possible by a fundraising campaign through the Herts Advertiser to support the efforts of his friends, family and school.

His dad Tep Crowder said that Freddie only had one site of cancer remaining and that had been reduced from its original size.

Pleased with his progress, doctors are extremely positive about Freddie’s chances and will carry out a further two cycles of the treatment which will hopefully cure the cancer, called neuroblastoma, which he was diagnosed with last February.

The doses of drugs used in the treatment were doubled this month as the inspiring St Helen’s School pupil had coped so well with previous cycles, which he started in May having fought back against all the odds when he was given just months to live last September.

But the side effects of the higher dose were markedly different. Tep explained: “Fred has been in a lot of pain, though mercifully he was unconscious most of last week. To counter the pain he was given Fentanyl, a pain killer many times stronger than morphine.

“This helped, though he had terrible hallucinations which was very frightening for all of us.

“In true Freddie style, though, he recovered incredibly quickly. He’s tiring quickly, but improving and is his usual bouncy self for short periods.”

The total cost for the first four cycles of treatment was �60,000 and, with no NHS funding, his parents were left facing an uphill struggle to find enough money to give Freddie a chance of survival. But the full amount was raised within a matter of weeks thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the public who had read about his plight.

Tep added: “We’re very hopeful that the next two cycles will be successful and we’d like to, once again, send our heartfelt thanks to all Herts Advertiser readers who are following Freddie and have him in their prayers, as well as, of course, those who so generously donated their time and money to give a very brave little boy a chance of life.”