A major cancer research project in memory of singer Sarah Harding will look for early signs of breast cancer in young women.

Harding, who was part of the pop group Girls Aloud, 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.

The new Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Younger 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.

Speaking about the study before her death, Miss Harding said: ‘Research is incredibly important in the fight against cancer.

‘Although this research may not be in time to help me, this project is incredibly close to my heart as it may help women like me in the future.’

Miss Harding was treated at the Christie cancer hospital in Manchester.

Catherine Craven-Howe, 33, from Hale in south Manchester, is the first person to take part in the new trial.

She is studying medicine at Liverpool University while working as a healthcare assistant in an eating disorders unit.

Her first appointment included a low dose mammogram to assess her breast density and a saliva sample for genetic testing.

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

‘I hope my participation will help devise a simple test to detect the likelihood of breast cancer for young women like me in the future.’

Eight to ten weeks after her appointment, Ms Craven-Howe will receive feedback about her risk of breast cancer.

Later, she will undertake a psychological impact questionnaire and receive a breast cancer risk statement at the end of the study, likely to be in 2025.

The project aims to examine the risk factors most commonly found in women diagnosed with breast cancer in their 30s with the hope of building a model to identify these women in the future.

Researchers hope their findings will enable all women to have a risk assessment for breast cancer when they reach the age of 30, with those deemed high risk given access to early screening and opportunities to prevent cancer developing.

The study will recruit 1,000 women aged between 30 and 39, including 250 with breast cancer but no family history of the disease.

The saliva samples will also help experts from the Christie and Cancer Research UK establish which types and patterns of genes are implicated in cancer with a view to developing personalised risk scores.

These can be combined with other breast cancer risk factors such as when a woman’s periods started, alcohol intake and use of the contraceptive pill.

The density of breast tissue may also play a part in the level of risk of getting the disease.

Miss Harding’s consultant, Dr Sacha Howell, who is leading the Bcan-Ray study, said: ‘Sarah spoke to me many times about breast cancer research and was really keen for more to be done to find out why young women are being diagnosed without any other family members having been affected by the disease.

‘There are too many young women in their 30s like Sarah tragically dying from breast cancer and we need to find out how we can more accurately identify those in whom it will develop.

‘Currently the only indicator we have is based on family history but this only helps predict one third of cases.

‘While there is research available in the over-40s, this will be the first study in young women.

‘With breast cancer still the leading cause of death in women under 50, we need to find ways to identify those most at risk and offer them breast screening to detect cancers earlier, when treatment is more likely to be successful.’

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Even in the darkest days of her cancer journey, Sarah Harding was a fearless advocate for research.

‘She bravely faced up to the pain the cancer caused her, undergoing treatment whilst thinking of ways to help other women in a similar position.

‘Since Sarah’s death, it has been inspiring to see people coming together in her memory to support life-saving research.

‘The money raised in Sarah’s name will go a long way towards diagnosing breast cancer earlier in younger women.

‘The Bcan-Ray project will fulfil Sarah’s dying wish to help women like her. By harnessing the power of cutting-edge science, we can look forward to the day where all women can live free from the fear of breast cancer.’

It comes after the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, thanked her social media followers today for their ‘kindness and support’ following her own breast cancer diagnosis.

She is now urging all people to get checked and said her diagnosis was a ‘wake up call’ to get ‘super fit’. 

The duchess, nicknamed Fergie, said she is ‘hugely thankful’ to hospital staff involved in the mammogram which detected her breast cancer and believes her experience ‘underlines the importance of regular screening’.

Sarah, 63, and Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, was diagnosed with an early form of the disease after a routine screening, her spokesman said, which had presented no symptoms.

After undergoing surgery at the private King Edward VII hospital in Marylebone, central London, she has been told her prognosis is good and she is recuperating at Windsor with her family.

In a statement, a spokesman said Sarah wanted to ‘express her immense gratitude to all the medical staff who have supported her in recent days’.

After Sarah Ferguson’s shock cancer diagnosis… here’s how YOU can check your breasts for cancer and the key signs to look out for

Sarah, Duchess of York, has undergone an operation to treat breast cancer, it has been revealed.

The 63-year-old duchess was diagnosed after a routine mammogram and has since undergone surgery, which her spokesperson said was successful.

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of the disease in the UK, with around 55,000 women and 370 men being diagnosed with it each year, according to Breast Cancer Now. 

While breast cancer is highly treatable, it is crucial to spot it as early as possible, as the longer it goes without treatment the higher the risk it can pose.

Despite years of pleas from cancer charities, more than a third of women in the UK still do not regularly assess their breasts.

With thousands across the country unsure of how to spot the key signs of the potentially deadly cancer, here MailOnline gives a guide on how to check your breasts and other symptoms to look out for.

How and what should you check? 

Checking your breasts could help find signs of breast cancer early. This means you have a better chance of beating the disease, experts say.

It should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes, charity CoppaFeel says.

But according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Breast Cancer Now, 39 per cent of women don’t bother.

More than half who do not check their breasts simply forget to, while 16 per cent do not know how to check. 

Dr Sarah Kayat, who, with the help of a topless cancer survivor, showed viewers on ITV’s This Morning how to perform a breast exam, said at-home breast exams save 1,300 lives in the UK each year.

You can check in the shower, when you are lying down in bed or in the mirror before you get dressed.  

Because breast tissue isn’t just found in your boobs, it’s also important that men and women check the tissue all the way up to their collarbone and underneath their armpit. 

There is no right or wrong way to check your breasts, as long as you know how your breasts usually look and feel, says the NHS.

But one of the most popular methods online involves using the pads of your fingers.  

Simply, rub and feel from top to bottom, feel in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to feel for any abnormalities, according to a guide shared in a blog post by the University of Nottingham. 

If you spot any changes you should get it checked out by your GP.  

Women aged between 50 and 70 should also be attending routine breast cancer screening. 

Check for… 

A lump or swelling

Using your fingers feel for lumps or swellings in the breast, upper armpit and chest.

A lump or an area of thickened breast tissue that doesn’t move easily is one of the first noticeable symptoms of breast cancer, says the NHS.

And according to the American Cancer Society, it’s the most common symptom. It says the lumps are often hard and painless.

But when feeling for unusual lumps and bumps it is important to know what is normal for you, experts say.

The NHS advises women get used to how their breasts feel at different times of the month. This is because some women have tender and lumpy breasts, near the armpit, around the time of their period.

The feel of your breasts can also change after the menopause as normal breasts can feel softer less firm and not as lumpy.

As well as checking for lumps, visible changes to the shape and size of the breast is also important.

Changes to the skin

Another common sign of breast cancer is a change the skin.

This can usually just be seen in the mirror and includes puckering or dimpling of the skin.

The dimpling skin is often compared to orange peel and can be associated with inflammatory breast cancer, which is a rare but aggressive form of cancer. 

A change in colour is also a warning sign to get checked out, says Breast Cancer Now.

If you notice your breast looks red or inflamed, it could be a sign of cancer.

Pain is only a symptom of breast cancer in rare cases, the NHS says. But if you feel pain or discomfort in one breast that doesn’t go away you should see your GP.

A nipple change

It’s important to not just check your breast tissue for abnormalities, but also your nipples, experts say.

Look for rashes or crusting around the nipple.

The NHS says this could look like eczema, crusting of the skin, scaly, itchy or red skin.

You should also check the position of your nipple, the NHS advises.

If it is being pulled in or starting to point in a different way to usual, it could be a sign of breast cancer.

Another warning sign to get checked out by your GP is discharge from either nipple.

Discharge is more common in ductal carcinoma in situ, which is an early form of breast cancer that starts in the milk ducts. 

Cancer Research says the discharge can also be blood stained.

Google has unveiled a huge update that signals ‘the beginning of the end’ for using passwords to access Gmail accounts.

The web giant has started to roll out its new passkey technology, which will allow billions of users to sign in to websites and apps the way they unlock a device — with a fingerprint, face scan or a device PIN that can verify their identity. 

It is expected that the new type of online sign-in will eventually replace passwords, although it will be a while before this happens because the technology is still in its infancy.

Experts say it will allow people to access and use their new password-less sign-in credentials – or passkey – across different devices.

This will prevent them from having to sign in to every account again on each device, reducing the risk of using easily-guessable passwords and therefore creating a more secure system.

The technology has also been rolled out in Apple’s iOS16 and the latest MacOS release, while Microsoft has been running it through the Authenticator app.

Ebay, PayPal and Docusign are already using the passkey, too, along with a number of other businesses.

It was created by industry body the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance and World Wide Web Consortium, with Google, Apple and Microsoft the primary drivers.

The tech giants said the new system also allows people to use a fingerprint or facial scan authentication on their smartphone as a way of signing in on another device nearby, regardless of which operating system or browser they are running.

This is a feature already in place for Apple devices, where someone wearing an Apple Watch can unlock a phone or MacBook.

This reduces the need for people to remember a wide range of username and password combinations to log in to different services, which has often led to passwords being reused across multiple accounts.

Experts have previously warned that this is one of the biggest security risks in the digital world.

Users can create and store a passkey on any compatible device they use  – such as iPhones running iOS16 and Android devices running Android 9.

They will also be able to share it to other devices from the OS using services such as iCloud or password managers like Dashlane and 1Password.

To set one up, visit g.co/passkeys. 

Enter your password to access your account, then click ‘Create a passkey’.

You will be asked to select ‘Continue’ to set one up for the device you are using, or ‘Use another device’ for a different one.

Once you’ve done this, you will be asked to place your fingerprint on your device as you normally would to unlock it, at which point the passkey will be created.

If at any point you suspect someone else can access your account, or if you lose the only device that the passkey is stored on, you can revoke passkeys in the Google account settings.

The technology works by storing a cryptographic private key on a user’s device, while there is a corresponding public key uploaded to Google. 

When a user signs in, the device uses the private key to generate a signature once it has solved a unique challenge. 

This signature is in turn verified using the public key which then allows the user to access their account.

Google never sees the private key or biometrics used, only the signature generated and the public key. 

The internet giant says this will prevent people using phishing, SIM-swap and other methods to obtain passwords or bypass existing authentication methods.

However, Google stresses that users should never create passkeys on a shared device because anyone that can access and unlock that device would then be able to access your Gmail account. 

‘While passwords will be with us for some time to come, they are often frustrating to remember and put you at risk if they end up in the wrong hands,’ Google said in its announcement.

‘Last year – alongside FIDO Alliance, Apple and Microsoft – we announced we would begin work to support passkeys on our platform as an easier and more secure alternative to passwords. 

‘And today, we’ve begun rolling out support for passkeys across Google Accounts on all major platforms. 

‘They’ll be an additional option that people can use to sign in, alongside passwords, 2-Step Verification (2SV), etc.’

Despite the rollout, Jake Moore, Global cybersecurity adviser at ESET, said we are still a long way from the end of the password.

But he added that ‘at least Microsoft, Google and Apple are attempting to pave the way to make account access for secure as well as convenient’.

‘It isn’t something that can be achieved overnight but it highlights that more needs to be done when it comes to people’s password security.’

Andrew Shikiar, executive director of FIDO Alliance, said: ‘We’re thrilled with Google’s announcement today as it dramatically moves the needle on passkey adoption due both to Google’s size, and to the breadth of the actual implementation — which essentially enables any Google account holder to use passkeys.

‘I also think that this implementation will serve as a great example for other service providers and stands to be a tipping point for the accelerated adoption of passkeys.’