SCANS have revealed further hope and optimism for a three-year-old Wrexham girl diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

Last May, Aria Hodgkiss, from Rhostyllen, was tragically diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) - a tumour in her brain stem - on the day of her third birthday.

Her family was given the devastating prognosis that Aria will likely live between just nine and 18 months from diagnoses - with the tumour being inoperable.

However, her family quickly set about finding alternative forms of treatment - and heard about the new ONC201 drug.

It is thought to kill certain cancerous cells and Aria has been taking it for the past seven months as part of a clinical trial based out of Germany.

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And on Tuesday (January 18), Aria's family received the results of her latest MRI scan - showing how the tumour is behaving.

To their joy, the tumour has been shown to not habe grown in size.

Aria's mum, Mel, said: "This was the main MRI scan to see if the ONC201 is working or not. It's job is to keep it from growing, so it looks like it's doing what it's suppose to do.

"By this stage, tumours of this nature typically progress a lot - so the treatment must be working."

The Leader: Aria and her family. Aria and her family.

The treatment isn't available on the NHS, and currently costs the family thousands of pounds a month to buy. And this cost will rise when Aria is prescribed a higher dose.

To help the family with the cost, various fundraisers have been taking place across Wrexham - which have raised thousands for the cause.

There is also a GoFundMe page, which, brilliantly, has raised over £25,000. You can donate to it via https://www.gofundme.com/f/aria-vs-dipg

Mel added: "I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped Aria. Everyone has been amazing, the Wrexham community has rallied around in support - we live in an amazing place."

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