If you’re an Eastenders or Corrie fan you might have noticed recent cancer storylines. What do you think about them? Are they realistic? Do you think they’re good at raising awareness?

Eastenders character Jean Slater, naturally, is shocked by her ovarian cancer diagnosis, so much so that she runs away from her family to cope on her own. She leaves her relatives worried sick and it leads them to go to extreme lengths and pretend to be Jean at a GP appointment, so they can have access to her medical records and find out how serious things are. Eventually, they convince Jean to leave the caravan park she was staying in and return to the square.

Meanwhile in Coronation Street, Sinead Tinker was diagnosed with cervical cancer while pregnant, and chose to delay her chemotherapy to continue the pregnancy. Once her family find out she has cancer, Sinead starts to discuss treatment only for her to find out that she needs to have to the baby prematurely, so she can begin extensive treatment to give herself the best chance.

Both stories look at the initial reaction of the characters and their first instinct is to keep this to themselves and carry the news alone, rather than seeking out advice from doctors or support services like Cancer Chat.