First woman takes part in Sarah Harding breast cancer research trial

A cancer research project started in memory of late Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding officially has its first trialist, with work now under way.

The British singer, born in Berkshire and raised in Greater Manchester, died in September 2021 aged 39 after being diagosed with breast cancer.

Upon her passing, it was revealed that one of her last wishes was for there to one day be a method of identifying breast cancer in women at earlier stages.

Now, the new project based in Greater Manchester, named Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Young Women (BCAN-RAY) is aiming to do just that.

BCAN-RAY is being funded by the Sarah Harding Cancer Appeal in association with Cancer Research UK, and is one of the first of its kind in the world.

And Kimberley Walsh, who sang alongside Harding in the Something Kinda Oooh group, has already spoken to the first trialist, 33-year-old Catherine.

Kimberley Walsh spoke to the first trialist in the Sarah Harding trial (Picture: BBC/Getty)

‘I feel honoured to be involved in this,’ Catherine said.

‘Hopefully it will have massive implications and will improve the way we screen younger women.’

The trial will involve 750 women aged 30 to 39, and their tests will include a saliva sample to check for gene mutations, as well as a low-dose mammogram.

‘I don’t have breast cancer myself,’ she added, ‘and I don’t have a history of it in my family, I know just how important clinical trials and research are.’

Kimberley responded: ‘I don’t really think thank you is big enough. But I do appreciate you and every single woman that’s agreed to take part in this trial.’

Kimberley’s chat with Catherine will be shown on Monday, August 28 (Picture: BBC)

Kimberley and Sarah sang together for 10 years in Girls Aloud (Picture: Getty)

‘I really hope that it’s something that they roll out, because it could be completely game-changing. And that is what makes me feel really excited on Sarah’s behalf.’

She continued, reflecting on the last wishes of her bandmate: ‘If she knew that it was actually happening, I think she would be really happy.’

Kimberley’s chat with Catherine will go out on Monday morning’s edition (August 28) of BBC Morning Live, which starts at 9.15am on BBC One.

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The Sarah Harding Cancer Appeal funded the project.