Jennifer Aniston films advert for cancer charity

Actress Jennifer Aniston has filmed a poignant TV advert with two young cancer patients to raise money for a children's hospital over the holidays.

The former Friends star is joined by six-year-old best friends Mae and Bailey, who both suffer from kidney cancer, to raise awareness for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as part of a Thanksgiving charity drive.

In the video for the Thanks and Giving campaign, released on YouTube.com on Friday, the actress begins with the emotional message, "Some girls wish to grow up to be a princess, other girls wish to simply grow up," before asking her two co-stars what they wish for. The girls reply that they want their hair to grow back and for "no more cancer".

Aniston has been heavily involved in raising funds for the hospital for several years and filmed her first awareness campaign in 2006 alongside actress Marlo Thomas, whose entertainer father Danny Thomas founded the hospital in 1962.

The two actresses appeared as mother and daughter in Aniston's hit sitcom Friends.