In the News: This week's headlines

A YouTube video of a daughter cutting off her mother’s hair before she loses it to chemotherapy is attracting a lot of attention. The video of Sara and her daughter Lola was filmed as a family keep-sake to help the family come to terms with the diagnosis. However, it had such an impact on them that they were encouraged to put it online. It has now had thousands of viewers and is featured in many national newspapers. The family has set up a JustGiving page where people can donate to a cancer charity of their choice, including Breast Cancer Care.

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The Daily Telegraph has a story about a group of scientists who are working to create a vaccine to treat breast cancer. The treatment aims to manipulate patients’ white blood cells to target cancerous cells. Early clinical trials of the treatment are promising. More than half the patients in the trial showed a reduction in the tumour size and five patients had no visible trace of the disease remaining.

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Three sisters spoke to the Daily Mail and the Daily Express after having preventive double mastectomies. Their mother died at a young age from breast cancer and after the oldest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer they all tested positive for the BRCA1 gene. The two older sisters have also had hysterectomies as the carrying the gene means they also have an increased chance of ovarian cancer.

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The Guardian has reported that Jean-Claude Mas, owner of the French firm Poly implant Prothèse (PIP), which was at the centre of a world health scare about breast implants, has been charged with causing bodily harm by the French authorities. PIP was closed down in 2010 after it was found to be using non-medical grade silicone to produce breast implants.