A major cancer research project in memory of singer Sarah Harding will look for early signs of breast cancer in young women.
Stockport-raised Harding, who was part of the pop group Girls Aloud, died from the disease aged just 39 in 2021 and one of her final wishes was to find new ways of spotting breast cancer early, when it is more treatable. The new Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Young Women (Bcan-Ray) project will become one of the first in the world to identify which women are at risk of getting the disease in their 30s.
Around 2,300 women aged 39 and under are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year. The project, which will run in Greater Manchester, is being made possible thanks to funding from The Christie Charity, Cancer Research UK and the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, which is supported by Harding’s family, friends and Girls Aloud bandmates Cheryl Tweedy, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts.
