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A vaccine could help extend the lives of people diagnosed with the same brain cancer that killed courageous former UK cabinet minister Tessa Jowell.

Early trials show that a vaccine which stimulates the body’s immune system to tackle the cancer could give an extra six months or so of life. Glioblastoma patients live on average for 15 to 17 months after surgery. But in a medical study of the DCVAX involving 331 patients they survived for an average 23 months.

The longest survivors are still alive more than seven years after surgery.

Vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of miscarriage, according to a study. Researchers measured levels of the vitamin in the blood of women who had suffered a previous loss before they fell pregnant again. Those getting the recommended vitamin D levels were 15 per cent more likely to have a live birth than those who didn’t.

Obese children with a genetic defect could be given a daily injection which controls hunger. Scientists say a drug called liraglutide could help youngsters who have a faulty MC4R gene. The gene occurs in one in every 50 obese people.