Angelina Jolie reveals she had double mastectomy to prevent cancer

 

Angelina Jolie has revealed she has had preventative double mastectomy earlier this year after a blood test showed she was genetically susceptible to cancer.

Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely.

The actress made the decision to undergo the procedure in February after learning that she is a carrier of the BRCA1 cancer gene defect that increases risk of developing cancer that killed her mother.

I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

The Salt star said she went through a series of medical procedures from February- April 2013 to have her breasts removed and then reconstructed.

In an editorial piece for the New York Times entitle ‘My Medical Choice’, Jolie said she decided to take the measure after learning she had a 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.

Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.

Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.

I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.

On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work.

For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.

The 37-year-old mother of six, whose own mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died at the age of 56 after battling with cancer for almost a decade. ended the editorial by saying:

I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options.

Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.