Royal Bolton Hospital will help fulfil the final wish of Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding to find new ways of spotting breast cancer early - when it's more treatable.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women aged 35-50 years in the UK, with an estimated 10,000 women a year diagnosed under the age of 50.
Sarah, died from the disease aged 39 in 2021 and one of her final wishes was to find new ways of spotting breast cancer early, when it is more treatable.
Funded by The Christie Charity Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, phase two of the BCAN-RAY (Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Younger Women) study will be rolled out to Royal Bolton Hospital which has been recognised as a centre of excellence in breast cancer care thanks to its use of new and innovative technologies.
Dr Francis Andrews, Medical Director at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said:“We’re really pleased that we will be able to recruit patients to this important study in just a few weeks.
“As a research active trust, we are keen to reduce the devastating impact of breast cancer through recruiting as many younger women as possible to this trial.”
Other hospitals will also take part.
The study will also involve the creation of a new medical role named in honour of Sarah who was treated at The Christie hospital in Manchester to oversee it.
Phase one of the study found that dozens of young women have found out they are at increased risk of breast cancer.
Early results from the study show that 58 woman aged between 30 and 39 years old have been identified at increased risk and have been given information on steps they can take to reduce their odds of being diagnosed with the disease.
They will also be offered yearly check-ups until they reach the age when they are eligible for NHS breast cancer screening at the age of 50.
The news comes as her bandmates Cheryl Tweedy, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts said they “miss Sarah every day” and “will do everything in our power to support research in her name”.
The Bcan-Ray project, which is being run by experts at The Christie Hospital in Manchester where Harding was treated, hopes to identify which women are at risk of getting the disease in their 30s.
The study, funded by The Christie Charity’s Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, began in May 2023.
The initial phase of the project aims to recruit 1,000 women aged 30 to 39.Women who take part are asked to complete a questionnaire, have a risk assessment mammogram and provide a saliva sample for genetic testing.
Information from the mammogram and the genetic test are then combined with other factors such as when a woman’s periods started, alcohol consumption and use of the contraceptive pill, to provide a personalised breast cancer risk score.
To date, 500 women have been recruited. Some 404 have been given their risk score, with 88 found to be at “increased risk” and 316 at “average risk”.
READ MORE: Royal Bolton Hospital new aid for breast cancer patients
Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding's doctor doing fundraiser
Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has died at the age of 39
Some 58 women at increased risk have been contacted so far.
“We’re really confident that we have a system that is working, from the results so far, which is great news,” said Dr Sacha Howell, who was also Sarah Harding’s consultant when she was being treated at The Christie.
“These findings mean that we may be able to offer personalised ways to predict and prevent breast cancer more widely in the population in future.
“We have expanded the recruitment sites for this study beyond The Christie hospital to other cancer units at Lancaster, Wirral, Bolton, Tameside, Leighton, Wigan and Macclesfield.
“In five years’ time we would like to see the risk prediction for breast cancer in young women rolled out across the UK so we can reduce the number of deaths and improve lives.”
In a statement, Sarah's bandmates said: “Before Sarah passed away, we promised her we would fulfil her wish of raising as much money as possible for vital breast cancer research.
“Too many young women who have no reason to believe they are at risk of breast cancer are dying from the disease.
“We miss Sarah every day and will do everything in our power to support research in her name to reduce the chances of other women going through what she experienced.”
It has also been announced that a senior research laboratory post will be named after Harding.
The Sarah Harding Young Women’s Breast Cancer Fellowship post will focus on work around breast cancer risks for women in their 30s.
Dr Howell added: “We have made great strides in the first phase of our Bcan-Ray study, and ‘The Sarah Harding Young Women’s Breast Cancer Fellowship’ will bring us a step closer to achieving Sarah’s goal.
“Her wish was that no other young woman should experience the shock and devastation of a breast cancer diagnosis when they have no reason to think they are at risk and have no family history of the disease.”
Around 2,300 women aged 39 and under are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year.
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